I'm not even sure where to start.

I'm referring to Dr. George Tiller's assassination, of course. But not *just* that. I mean, I'm horrified that this man lost his life because he stood up for what he believed in, that he followed the law, and he helped a lot of women and their families navigate truly difficult, truly painful situations. I've had an abortion. It's not an easy decision, or one most people take lightly.

Believe me, if I had felt adoption was a viable alternative, I would have done it in a heartbeat. But I was suicidally depressed. Continuing that pregnancy might well have cost my oldest child her only reliable parent. And in most of the cases involving Dr. Tiller, it was about the mother's health, or the child not being viable at birth, and sparing the mother another several months of pregnancy carrying a child doomed to death. No mother should have to endure that. And mentally, I don't know if I could.

But really, all of that is just "stuff". Significant stuff, but still details on a larger issue. Because what's really bothering me isn't the abortion issue itself. That's a personal decision for each individual, and it's a LEGAL right for all women.

What bothers me are the people who feel entitled to enforce their own internal beliefs on others. Just because I believe a woman has a right to choose if she carries a pregnancy to term, doesn't mean I think I have the right to enforce my beliefs on other people. I don't stand outside the homes of unreasonably young pregnant women telling them I think they should either adopt the child out or abort. It's none of my goddamn business.

But there is a very small segment of American Society who seems to believe it does have the right to tell other people what to do, how to live, and what to believe. Right down to who they should worship. I don't know about you, but that is decidedly not my concept of America. In fact, it seems that this is exactly what our ancestors came to America to escape. Persecution.

This is why we have a Constitution. It's why we have laws, and a Supreme Court, and Amendments that state one larger group cannot determine the rights of another, smaller group, just because they want to - we are ALL created Equal. The Majority doesn't have the right to strip rights from a Minority, and no one group has the right to tell other people how to live their lives, so long as they are obeying the laws of our land. That's why we make laws.

But in reading up on the Abortion Issue ( I capitalize that for good reason, as it's the most divisive in our country) it suddenly dawned on me how extreme some people are. Understand, I *did* sort of live in a cave those 10-11 years I was hooked on painkillers to tolerate being in a heterosexual marriage I desperately wanted out of. I didn't "wake-up" until 2005. Hell, I didn't realize I was gay for a good 6 weeks after that. And I didn't have the heart to start reading the news again until last year. Long story - if you don't know me well, you'll have to read my old blogs - or wait for the memoir.

But, boy howdy, the news is really fucking with my head these days. The amount of hatred and bile that spills from these so-called Christians just boggles my mind. The intolerance, the lack of empathy, the sheer fanaticism, is astounding. Even at my most fucked-up, I was never that cruel to anyone. Even most of the people I knew growing up who were Christians weren't that fucked up. And I knew some pretty fucked-up people. Heck, I was related to a lot of them. And I grew up in Texas.

However, looking at the histories of these groups - and their flavor of the week varies, although "the gays" and abortion seem to top the list - I can't help but wonder where their rights to free speech end, and my right to file harassment charges begin. When does the right to freedom of Speech give way to the rights of the individual against harassment, hate crimes, etc.? When does the individual have the right to say "enough"?

I mean, to me, having someone going through my trash, picketing outside my home, or harassing my spouse at work (oh, and don't forget the postcards mailed to Dr. Tiller's staff's neighbors accusing them of being "baby killers"), when does that become prosecutable harassment? That's not "free speech", folks. Calling a man a "mass murderer" on your website is NOT free speech. It's persecution. It's harassment. It's wrong, and there should be laws against it.

And it's that kind of harassment that creates the sort of nutjobs that have now killed FOUR abortion doctors. It's that kind of ignorance that allows four thugs in Boston to beat a guy half to death while calling him a fag - and the one who was caught gets a TWO-YEAR SUSPENDED SENTENCE! (see: dym-sum.com/2009/05/28/no109/)

It's that kind of unregulated hatred that creates violence that should not be tolerated in this country. I could list crime after crime after crime, where people were persecuted due to their race, their beliefs, their orientation. But not one crime has been committed against a right-wing nutjob - unless you count that twit Ashley Todd, who tried to claim she was assaulted by black men who tried to carve "Obama" in her skin - and was eventually discovered to be lying out her ass.

We - "we" being the so-called liberals - don't go around beating people, killing people, stalking people, and generally making their lives miserable because they don't agree with us. We're law-abiding (except for a few of those PETA peeps, whose methods I tend to disagree with) and we just want to live our lives without interference, and within the law. And if we don't like the law, we try to change it. Legally. Because that's what you are *supposed* to do when you don't like the law, right?

Not bully people, or harass them and their neighbors and neighboring businesses. You deal within the system. You don't force the people who live in the system to deal with you, personally. You don't impose your own brand of justice and morality on other people. That is NOT what civilized humans do. In a civilization, we all obey the same rules, or the rules collapse. Civilization collapses. And if we allow these splinter groups to continue to thumb their noses at the rest of society and the laws we live under, then civilization will suffer - because let's face it, there's only so much of this shit you can put up with. If your government doesn't stand with you, and enforce the same rules of engagement on opposing groups, and demand some level of reasonable behavior, then eventually, somebody is going to lash out at these people.

Granted, I would guess that's how they feel. Their government is not respecting their beliefs - the laws went against them. But, just to be snarky for a minute - isn't that what the Prop 8 supporters keep telling us? We lost - they won. Deal with it. And we're dealing with it by taking further legal action, and continuing to fight - legally - for what we believe is right. They keep taking action by harassing people, blowing up clinics, and generally being hateful, all in the name of Baby Jesus. Let's not forget Murder.

Honestly, I think this small group (and really, considering the U.S. population, they are a very small group) deserves it's own disease in the DSM. A delusional psychosis of some sort, perhaps. What they do not deserve is our continued tolerance of their peculiar brand of activism. The insanity has to stop somewhere. Seriously, there oughta be a law against this. Because our current laws allow for too much hatred to be directed at specific groups by people who are obviously too unstable to seek due process. People who will not accept that society is not obligated to adhere to their standards. People who don't seem to grasp due process.

Some might compare the gay marriage struggle with that. But there's a significant difference there. Those of us who want gay marriage aren't asking them to participate in a gay marriage. We're asking for the right to marry. We're not demanding their clergy marry us. We're not demanding their children become gay. We're demanding our own legal rights. And like abortion, you might not like that, but I can assure you it's a right we deserve, and a right we will have in the end. And ultimately, like abortion, it has not a thing to do with their lives or how they live them. I find sleeping with guys to be particularly abhorrent (no offense guys), but you don't see me picketing the homes of heterosexuals telling them how I gross *I* think it is, now do you? That's their business. I think they should mind theirs, and let me mind mine.

It's like people - one of my friends FB friends, in fact - who make comments about how they find it offensive to see books like "My Two Mommies" in a school library. These are people who can't tolerate tolerance. Just as I find heterosex icky - he finds lesbians icky - the difference is I don't feel a need to rant at heterosexuals, or prevent my kids from knowing they exist. How would he feel if his kids were made fun of because he likes girls? But he'll never know how that feels. My youngest may.

It wasn't easy for my kids to come to terms with the announcement that I was a Big Ole' Queer. It took time. Just as anything unfamiliar takes time to process. But because my kids had an emotional investment in me, and we communicated, they adjusted. I was so proud the first time each of them shared with a friend that I'm gay. It meant they'd overcome that society-imposed shame. They'd grown, and grown up a bit.

But the way I see it, the people in these far right Christian sects aren't capable of growth. They're throwing fits, because they aren't getting what they want. They're lashing out at others with violence, because they're immature, and child-like, except without the innocence. They lack empathy, and acceptance. And they excel at blaming other people for their problems.

In short, they are a very extreme, very primal, form of addict. That's what happens with people trapped in addiction. Especially those that cease to develop emotionally and mentally at an early age. They blame everyone else. They want what they want - now. And screw whoever their actions harm. In the case of these people, I think their religious beliefs are their drug. And they get off on forcing other people to acknowledge those beliefs, and abide by them. And if other people don't, well, it becomes a need to control those people. It's not much different than the military wash-outs who have committed murder, or the men who have killed their entire families before killing themselves, lately. It's all about control.

When this sort of personality feels a lack of control, they lash out at the people they blame, or the people they care for. It's always one or the other. Although one could argue, if you kill someone you claim to love, you couldn't really love them all that much. The marine washout who killed his mom, some other relatives, and some strangers - what made him snap? Well, Mom died first. But he didn't stop there, did he? And he's hardly the only one in the past year.

Some people carry so much rage, so much impotence, that all it takes is a personal event in their lives to make them snap. And I think there is a LOT of personal angst in the lives of these people who persecute others. Obviously, there is in the case of the ones who snap and commit violence. But even the ones who simply make it their life's work to harass others who disagree with them - what kind of process do you think is happening there? It's all about a need for control. A need to get other people to comply with your demands. An unwillingness to accept reality.

These people aren't sane. They won't work within the system. They won't tolerate differences. They believe their belief system is the ONLY correct belief system. Observe the comment from Operation Rescue:

“We are shocked at this morning’s disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down. Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller’s family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ.”

Note: "...comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."

To them, this is the ONLY path.

They can't even imagine that people could believe differently. It's beyond these people. They are that limited, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I mean, first off, there is nothing peaceful about driving around in a big truck with pictures of dismembered fetuses plastered to the side of it. Or digging through someone's trash, sending postcards to their neighbors calling them "baby killers" or harassing their spouse's employer. They haven't worked through "proper channels". The people who followed them have killed in the name of their cause. They have harmed other human beings. All in the name of their belief in the right to life.

They are deranged. And our government should treat them as such. It's one thing to hold to your beliefs, to fight for what you think is right. It is a whole other arena when you drag other people's lives - people who are LIVING within the law - into it. And something needs to change. This cannot be allowed to continue in an allegedly free country.