Let the blow-back begin....

And as I knew it would, my comments made someoen close to me angry. She felt I was attacking her personally, when I wasn't. I won't apologize for my beliefs, any more than she would for hers, but I will apologize, again, for the way it was perceived.

It should be noted here for everyone to see that I am a Pacifist. I have been most of my life. I believe violence in the name of ANY cause is wrong. It's one of the reasons I left membership in groups like PETA and GREENPEACE behind, they became almost militant and started throwing things at people, harming them, in the name of their "cause" I won't be a part of anything like that.

Now, I'm going to put the comment Stephanie wrote in this post, so anyone that comes here can read it. She has the right to her opinion and since she had so much to say, I want to be sure it gets read, and in the comments section, that's not likely.

Agree with her, disagree with her (like I did) but she has the right to her opinion. Just like I do. She and I will never agree on this topic, but that doesn't make me respect her any less.

Now, for your reading pleasure:

"I wasn't saying it as an absolute truth. And yes, I am pissed, and hurt about you basically attacking what me for what I wrote. Especially when you got it wrong.

I wasn't telling anyone that they have to believe anything that I believe. I don't care that you believe the opposite of what I believe. That has never bothered me. You should know that I believe in freedom of speech whole-heartedly and would never try and tell anyone what they should or shouldn't believe or say. I may not agree with it but that doesn't mean that I think they shouldn't be allowed to say it.

"Just now a guy that just got back from Iraq for the second time called up and made a good point. One that I happen to agree with for the most part. If you don't support the president and his policies then you don't support our troops." That is the main statement on my blog that pissed you off. Someone else made that statement and I said that I agree with it, for the most part. Not entirely. And one person's opinion, or the shared opinion of several or many, does not mean that everyone has to share it. Nowhere in there did I tell anyone that they HAVE to think that way too! I would never do such a thing. And if you had read the comments you would have gotten an even more clear idea that I don't expect anyone that I know, aside from family of mine, to share my view. It seems that the majority is against President Bush, pretty much all of his policies, and the war. That majority includes most, if not all, of my friends. I'm fine with that.

There are reason's that I don't talk politics with you. This is the biggest one, right here. You getting pissed off about my opinion and me getting angry about it. I purposely avoid talking politics with you and tend to not talk as much when the subject does come up and change the subject to something else if possible. I am not as well read on any situation political as you are and you would completely obliterate me in any kind of political conversation due to that. I don't think that a difference in political belief is worth getting into arguments with friends.

I didn't tell you that you don't support out troops either. I don't know what kinds of conversations you have had with veterans, family members or non-family members, and I'm sure that they have varying opinions about different things involving their service. My father-in-law was a veteran of the Korean war. I've seen the internal scars too.

I'm not naive about what goes on in a war. I know that innocent people die. I know that people turn into monsters and do all kinds of unimaginable things to other human beings. That happens outside of war as well as in. I'm not saying that war is a good idea, or that it ever was. Peace should always win out, but it doesn't. On the fault of many, many people on both sides of whatever battle it is.

I also didn't say that all men and women in the armed forces support the war. I was in no way that specific. I said the troops do. Followed by saying that the people in the military, or recently out, that I have talked to have told me as much. I'm not dumb enough to believe that every man and woman in the military absolutely follows the government blindly and doesn't have any kind of varying opinion about what they are doing. I'm sure that some of them hate it, they just do it because that's what they signed on for. They are essentially government property and have signed over their rights and lives to that government and they are just doing what they are told. I'm sure some of them had a great opinion of the government before they went in and now have an opinion to the contrary because of what they have seen and/or done. I made a broad generalization based on information that I have.

I was merely MOSTLY, not entirely, agreeing with a statement that someone else made. I'm sorry that it pissed you off and that you thought I was saying things that I wasn't saying.

My friend FreeDawg, to keep his anonymity going, made a comment that totally disagreed with my post. That was his right. I could have gotten pissed and deleted it, but I didn't. Why am I going to keep him from speaking his mind? I'm not. He's entitled to his opinion. I did, however, comment back. This is what I said:

"Disagree with me all you want. I'm not going to think less of you for it. You are entitled to your opinion and feelings as much as any other person on the planet is.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm not politically minded and most likely never will be. My opinions are based on feelings, intuition and small personal experiences. I am in no position to force my views on anyone, nor would I try to because everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I'm actually getting to the point that I'm wishing that Bush's term were up already. I'm tired of the controversy and the anger that everyone has over how he is running things and about the war. (Not that war controversy will ever end. No matter what war it is or who is in the White House.)"

I'm not pissed about you having a different opinion, I'm pissed that you attacked me for mine and that you did it with the wrong impression of what I was saying.

FreeDawg commented, you attacked.

You said that I was telling people what to think and feel and say. I never said that the people of this country should just "smile and nod and agree with everything that the president does." I never once said anything about people not being allowed to have their own opinion or not being allowed to state their own opinion.

And, yeah, I am pissed.

And I don't care whether you post this on your blog or not, but I wanted you to hear what I had to say to you after reading this. And you could have asked me for clarification first."

I'm most likely not going to visit this subject again, I don't want things to become contensious, but I thought people should read that.