The Puritan Nation

(Note this is the first of several mini articles I am writing today. I will not responding to replies)

The United States. The Land of the Free, home of the Brave. That was one of our slogans for a long time. But it seems to have faded quite a bit over the years.

We as a nation are taking steps to protect us, from ourselves. In doing so, we are crossing out both the words "Free" and "Brave" from our famous mantra.

There is a great misconception among many in the US, that we are the "Most Free." They are quite mistaken. Allow me to explain a bit.

Remember the day that changed everything? No, not 9/11, the other day. It happened during the Super Bowl, Janet Jackson's big black nipple appeared on TV! A nation gasped in horror.

What are we so scared of? A piece of human anatomy? Last time I checked, we all have nipples..

I heard a lot of "What if the children saw that!" My question to them is, "Yes, what would happened if the children saw?" Nothing! There's nothing to be scared of. If your child is traumatized by an organ that we all have, you're not raising them right.

In Sweden, for example, you will find ads for strip clubs. Right out in public. Any guesses as to what they place on the ad? Naked dancers. Every dancer naked, all on a poster. Anyone can see, young and old. Chaos did not erupt, men are not humping donkeys, fire did not fall from the sky. Children were not traumatized. They were taught that the human body is acceptable, and so, they are not shocked or afraid. Sex and the human body is NOT evil. It's nature. We shouldn't shun it like the plague.

Let's look at drinking. Here in the US, it's legal to become a soldier at 18, and kill other people. No need to describe the horrors of war we are willing to subject our youth to. But they still are not legally allowed to drink. Why? Because drinking makes people die. It leads to bad decisions, and abuse. Or so they tell us.

Wrong again, Charlie! Throughout the world, drinking is allowed, and often introduced in small doses to children. So, as teens, they're used to it, understand tolerance, and do not have that rebellious curiousity. There is no drinking problem in Europe.

Let's menion gun laws. This, I find disturbing altogether. It simply lacks common sense. You can pass laws that require background checks, or ban firearms from certain public buildings, or what have you. However, criminals do what? They break laws. Hence the word "Criminal". The ones who would use firearms to hurt or control other people are intent on breaking laws anyway, so of course they will break gun control laws. Meanwhile, the only people who listen to the laws, are law-abiding citizens, who are then left unarmed, when law breakers who have firearms threaten them.

In Switzerland, everyone is forced to spend time in the military. Everyone is trained to shoot. Everyone brings their assault rifles home. They do not have a problem with it.

Instead of fear, we should spread knowledge and understanding. Instead of making children afraid of sex and the human body, we should teach them about the human body, tell them that sex isn't wrong, and educate them on safe practices should they engage in such acts. Boys and girls at a young age often think the opposite sex is gross, no need in fearing toddlers boning.

Instead of depriving youths of experience, and causing them to seek alchohol in an illegal rebellious way, we should expose them to it, teach them about it. There will always be accidents, and bad decisions. But we shouldn't be afraid. Spread knowledge, not lies.

Instead of saying guns are bad, guns are bad, I believe everyone should be taught how to use them. How to put the safety on, out to aim, how to be responsible with fire arms. Of course, also keeps weapons out of reach of children, but with knowledge, we can cut down the accidents, and hence we have no reason to restrict the freedoms of responsible people.

Drugs are much the same issue. In the 60's pot was supposed to make men grow breasts, turn you gay, and make you kill your children. Once they experimented and found out those were all lies, they began to experiment with harder, more dangerous drugs, to find out what else the man lied about.

We need to stop spreading ignorance and fear, and simply teach the truth in this country. Return the Brave, and the Free to our mantra.

Remember Don Imus? He said Nappy Haired Hoes! He's a racist. Do you know what they taught? What was the big lesson behind all that? The lesson was we should all be nice, because when we say things, words hurt. BULL#!

I don't know how many of you remember this, but there used to be a saying you'd teach your kid when sending them off to school. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me!"

We knew that words alone could not hurt. When we faced insults, or got called names it didn't bother us. We need to stop teaching our children to be sensitive sissies.

Every school shooting that comes up, everyone is looking to point the blame. Evil TV, video games, ooh scary. Despite what the moral authority would like to have you believe TV, or video games won't make you into a killer. Tens of millions of our children have slaughtered tens of thousands in video games. What happened? Nothing. They didn't become psycopaths. The people who cross the line are crazy anyway. TV didn't kill those kids at Virginia Tech. A very disturbed individual did.

We need to teachunderstanding and responsibility. Stop forcing these Puritan values. The other day there was a joke about Cheney and Darth Vader. Come the hell on now. I dislike the administration as much as the next guy, but let the bastards have a joke. That thread was full of "We shouldn't tolerate such jokes."

Get real. This is America. If you want to restore her to her former glory, you have to stop being scared of words. Stop spreading these false values. You're not protecting the children. You're teaching them to be victims.

You're hurting the children.

If your kid is traumatized by naked girls, or drinking, you're a terrible parent. The world is built around sex, and violence. Teaching your child to be a Puritan sissy is just teaching them to be a victim, and live in terror.

We need to catch up with the other industrialized nations of the world. They are not afraid to live "Free."

Why are we?

Originally posted by TheGreySwordsman
In Sweden, for example, you will find ads for strip clubs. Right out in public. Any guesses as to what they place on the ad? Naked dancers. Every dancer naked, all on a poster. Anyone can see, young and old. Chaos did not erupt, men are not humping donkeys, fire did not fall from the sky. Children were not traumatized. They were taught that the human body is acceptable, and so, they are not shocked or afraid. Sex and the human body is NOT evil. It's nature. We shouldn't shun it like the plague.

Since I am from Sweden, I can indeed testify that none of us see sexuality or naked people as something strange. I dont think any European country does... I mean, look at France. They probably have the most graphic sex scenes in their movies, but its no big deal.

I dont know why Americans are so sensitive to sex and nudity, but I think it may have to do with the many Christians in the country, no? I could be wrong though.

I think one problem we have in Sweden is the increased superficiality, and we have lots of teenagers not being happy about how they look. But I think thats more a consequence of the media bombardment, not the fact that we have no problems with nudity. In fact, I think seeing more natural nudity probably helps to balance the impact from artificial nudity with perfect bodies seen in movies from Hollywood. 99.9% of people dont look like in the movies, and I think its important to show that as well so people can accept how they look and not feel sad about themselfs.

Just my 2 cents.


[edit on 2-11-2007 by Copernicus]