Life In The Middle

I have always felt comfortable living in the middle. There is an openness and a feeling that I can experience anything. New sensations happen and old thoughts can be magically wiped away. There is no pressure to believe one way or the other. In life I have discovered that the questions and answers all blend together in the middle. No black and white, but, plenty of grey. I view every subject and every response from this angle. And, sometimes, it ain't easy, folks.... The best examples come from the strange worlds of religion and politics. When you are young you are taught to believe this way of thinking over that. The religion I was brought up on was the Catholic religion. With heavy doses of fear and intimidation miixed in the pot. I was told that our religion is sacred and all other religions are wrong. Therefore, I would go to Heaven and all other non-believers would be sent to Hell to burn. This scared me as a child because many of my friends were non-Catholics. They were small kids being brought up in diverse households. Innocent bystanders being told what to do and what to believe-- like me. I did not want them to die. I often would pose this question to my CCD teachers [ CCD was the every other Saturday morning brainwashing session for kids that did not go to Catholic school. If you put a gun to my head I cannot tell you a damn thing I learned with these money suckers]. My question would elicit some clearing of throats and convoluted answers to ponder. I suppose these ''teachers'' thought of my impertinance as a sign of a demon child. And, I'm sure their concern for my soul evaporated as soon as my parents sent in the donation for that month. By my teenage years I pretty much rejected their brainwashing and formed my own opinion of God. I am not an athiest, but, I am not someone who arrogantly believes to know all the answers in Creation. My thoughts are simple. I believe in God and the Afterlife. I believe that something came before me and is after me. Beyond that, I do not know of anything else. My feelings come from a gut feeling in my soul. Granted, they could be easily dismissed by science, but, this is one instance where I fault science. I am very happy living my life with my belief. I do not criticize or judge someone else thinking differently. Because that is life in the middle.... Politics is trickier when you live in the middle. Because it brings together all issues in life, including religion. If you were to list my opinions on any given subject, there again I would be, in the middle. Some may call it not wanting to take a side, but, the opposite is true. I am taking sides. It is clear cut for me, without any party allegiance, I am open to debate and learning. Take the abortion issue. Am I straddling both sides when I say that I am anti-abortion, but pro-choice? Many anti-abortion people do not seem to see clearly what the term ''pro-choice'' means. It is simple. You want to be able to choose how you want to believe on this issue without anyone-- be it your best friend or your government-- telling you want to think. I do not believe in abortion. There are cases when it may be necessary. I will leave that decision up to the woman [ and, only the woman] because I am not in the women's shoes. If I living her life then I can decide. I am not, however, so, the decision rests with her. I know women who have had abortions. These are not the local bar sluts who cannot keep their legs closed and use abortion for birth control. Rather, these are intelligent, thoughtful, loving women who made the painful choice that they have. For me to judge them, or, anyone else, is obscene to me. Along with their abortion comes guilt and thoughts on what might have been. Who among us has the audacity to tell them what to do with their lives? Again, this is not my way of thinking on abortion, but, I will fight for their rights to do what is best for them. Anti-abortion and pro-choice. Life in the middle... Guns are another subject that brings debate. With the horror of what just happened in Colorado the subject of gun control and gun laws begins again. This is the same argument that always happens after a tragedy involving firearms and death. It will happen again in the near future with the next tragedy that always seems to happen every six months or so. Being in the middle I see both sides of the debate clearly. Citizens should have the right to defend themselves in their own homes from an intruder. The Second Amendment says, murkily, something about the right to bear arms and a ''well regulated militia''-- which kinda means the National Guard. But, I believe the right to protect your home with whatever you can is correct. If someone breaks in I will be firing, and, I will let the law play out later if I am still alive. There is the other side. I do not believe in hunting. The term itself is laughable because hunting implies that it is you against them. I have never seen a deer with a shotgun. It is not hunting--- call it what it truly is, slaughter. Defenseless animals are being killed for sport. Now, some are killed because there is no food for them amd they are starving and so must be put out of their misery. This is a slim argument but I will accept it to be fair. After all, to be in the middle is to play fair. What I do not understand is why we continue to make more and more assault weapons. Guarding your home with a pistol is one thing. Having war-like arsenol in your hands that can be purchased over the counter is quite another. The bastard that shot up the Colorado theater was better equiped than many armies in Third World countries. Why are these things manufactured for public consumption? Not to protect ones own home, but, to do one thing: to murder. Perhaps, if this moron had a few pistols on him and not a ''Rambo'' type of weapon, many people would be alive today. It is speculation, to be sure. I do not know the answer. What I do know is that over a dozen people are dead who simply went out to see a movie. If those weapons were not so easily obtained then most of them would be alive. So, have your guns to protect, but, we should take another, harder look, finally, at the types of guns that are out there.... Many other issues face a man who lives in the middle: legallization of gambling and drugs, wars fought for our best interests, separation of church and state, tax cuts and increases, how the economy should be handled. I have my thoughts on all of these and, yes, they show the middle ground. There is one subject I plead guilty to be on one side of: the death penalty. There is no debate from the anti-death penalty people that will sway me. Murders and child abusers and rapists should be killed. Of course, they should be shown to have done these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt. We do not want someone who may be innocent to be put to death. But, when you have a Gacy or a Sandusky or this Holmes fuck from Colorado, the case is closed. There is no reason to keep them alive. Their victims, or, their victims families, may find some peace in these animals being put down. The anti-death penalty people believe that it is murder for us to kill them. Maybe, it is. But, it is justified murder. If I really have to explain to someone the difference between what Gacy did, and, the state putting these monsters to death, then that person will never get it. Will there be justice? I think so. Will there be an ease of the families pain? I think so. I am reminded of a man named Steven Judy, who in 1979 raped an Indiana woman and strangled her. Then, he killed her three small children by holding their heads under water until they drowned. At the time there was a spirited debate about whether Judy deserved to live. Are you kidding me? Fortuantely, he was put to death. I have no proof that his victims family found comfort in his execution, but, I'm betting they did. And, the same feeling should be offered to the families of the victims of Sandusky and Holmes. There is no middle ground here for me when it comes to the death of monsters. I am reminded of the line from the movie ''Apocalypse Now''--- ''Terminate. With Extreme Prejudice''..... With this blog I have seemed to wander off in various areas. That is common in people who live in the middle. Many topics occupy our minds and we must go with the thoughts wherever they may take us. Many of my friends are either committed to being a Democrat or a Republican on just about any issue. It is fun to spare with them. People in the middle like to provoke with a good heart. My family seem to be people in the middle, with a couple of exceptions. Maybe, it was our parents and how they raised us.... In nice Middle-Class home....