I need a bigger soapbox

They say that the more solid your foundation, the longer your house of cards will last. All right, I made that up. My point is that before we can try to untangle the “problem in the Middle East,” there are some basic fundamental truths that we have not unanimously agreed on. So I will act as facilitator here and bring to light these universal precepts to foster discussion. And may our agreement be the cornerstone of what I hope, with all my heart, is a safe, fun ride.

The only thing the color of someone’s skin means is variations in pigmentations. One would have to be an inbred, backward looking fool to argue that skin color makes a whit of difference in the ability to be fully human. Human is as human does, even if you’re blue or green. Love, compassion, intelligence, humor, intellect and mercy have no affiliation to any skin color. I love people of all colors and think it’s cool that there are so many shades. If this is not one of your beliefs, you are part of the problem.

So-called “homosexuality": I think even in the term we begin by using a negatively tinged expression. What is true is that one of the biggest problems that citizens of the USA face is isolation and loneliness. Americans have always been known to be individualistic in their expressions, but socially we have become a fragmented, disjointed society. And loneliness kills. We need each other to express things like joy, happiness and exuberance, but with a 50 percent divorce rate, it looks like long-term companionship might have been a fad. Love, while the highest goal of our species, seems unattainable to most. It is our right as humans to try to find it! If two men, or two women, want to head down the rocky road of love, hey, we should be congratulating them, not alienating them!!

Violence is not an answer. The answer is diplomacy, communicating and constant questioning till nonviolent measures are arrived at. If one baby gets hurt to prove a point, how can we sleep at night? Eighty million Third World women have had their clitorises forcefully removed to “subdue” their sexual urges and make them faithful to their husbands. Violence against women and children and all of us must stop, immediately.

We could be on the verge of the greatest renaissance history has ever known. Would you rather have war? Resist fear!