Welcome to tokoni

I wish I could say I had only one or two issues, but I find myself overwhelmingly disappointed with many different slices of our American pie.

Separation of Church and State.  The religious right needs to sit down and shut up. Feel strongly about your own beliefs? Fine – go to church and live it. But do NOT assume moral-righteousness and attempt to politically impose those beliefs on an entire nation of diverse and free-thinking individuals. There has been a complete disregard for separation of church and state the past 8 years. I want it to end now.

Same-sex marriage. Why should any government (state or national) have the decision to decide whom gets to legally love another person? What does gender have to do with any of it?  This should not be a political issue. Our governments are meant to keep us safe, sound, strong and free.  Informing the people of America that they couldn’t love another, couldn’t commit to them, couldn’t share a family, a life, and a home with them, has no business in the political arena of a free country.

Women’s Reproductive Rights. Again, this is not a political issue. It is a private decision that belongs to each individual. No governmental body should be able to limit a person’s ability to decide how and when to plan for a family – period.

Abstinence-Only. Our schools are a foundation of learning. Sharing knowledge is the basis of their existence. Why are many of our schools not sharing the most basic and relevant information pertaining to sex and biology? How could ignorance be considered a better choice?  It is not - the nation’s teenage pregnancy rates are on the rise.

Immigration. If anyone – ANYONE – agrees to work hard, make a living, pay taxes, abide by the laws, and show respect and kindness to their fellow Americans, I welcome them with open arms. I wish the rest of our nation – founded by immigrants and touted as the home of the free – would do the same.

Privatizing Social Security. Scary what’s happened to the economy lately. Good thing pensions and social security funds are kept separate from such volatility, otherwise we’d have an entire nation of retirees with not a penny to their name.  Wonder what that would have done to further the financial crisis …

There’s more: education, health care, equal pay, Iraq, foreign policy, oil, and on and on, but I’m tired. Let’s just say I’m hoping for change – drastic change – with our next administration.