Saturday, August 10, 2013

I Love You and Hope You Die

A friend used this title on her domestic abuse article. It worked well. I have remembered it and thought of other uses for it over the years. After watching the Republican Party try to dismantle every safety net we have, I think this title’s time has come again.

You say you love me and don’t want to fight with me yet you do everything in your power to protect your greed over my ability to live. You ignore a thousand kind, informative words to find one of mine that you can twist into a slur, and you criticize and obstruct everything I do to deliver my love to the world – which includes you. You can say you love me but it means little without actions to support the claim.

You say you have what you want and that should be enough for me, but you don’t offer what you have – even cry that you will not stand for anyone trying to “redistribute” life or love from you to me. You wish me well, but never ask if I am well and you turn your back on people who don’t look well.

You say you would never insult me while you lie about my life’s work and tell me I am a fool to seek the truth or repeat the facts. And you say you will pray for me when, in fact, you prey on me and steal the truth that is rightfully mine.

You ask me to trust you and then admit that you don’t seek or speak the truth. You say I should hear your words of love but you base your love on nothing and think you don’t have to live that love.

You say you treasure your right to lie, cheat, ignore history, spit in the face of education, defy facts, practice your faith, and ignore the needs of your world. And when I dedicate my life to fighting to protect your freedom to do everything that I find disgusting, you criticize me for wanting to offer the same rights to people you don’t like. Not only do you criticize me for doing what you are too lazy or selfish to do, you ask me to honor people who volunteered to kill innocent people in my name -   instead of standing by my side to bring to justice the administration that threatened your freedom and their lives. You dishonor my service to your community.

You say your faith comforts you and I must respect that. But you show no respect for my faith in things I can prove. In fact, you are angry with me for having proof. Nor do you consider my faith that no respectable god would appreciate your duplicity. You see, you say you love everyone but are tired of people who hold a hand out for help. Yet, your response to everything is to hold your hand out to your god rather than helping the people or the world that you insist he created. Your duplicity makes my head spin.

You say you value your freedom yet make a mockery of it by living as a victim of subliminal messages. You soak them up from the people you have given control of your mind, and you spit them back in language you don’t recognize. When you tell me you are dealing well with radishes on your plate, I know that means you don’t like radishes. And when you tell me you are afraid of radishes but refuse to give a reason, I know the reason is that someone else told you radishes are bad things and you are either too fearful to try them or too lazy to study them. Until you decide to take control of what goes into your mind, you can’t control what comes out. That’s one freedom you have to fight for on your own since I have no control over your mind.

You ask my opinion and then insult me for being able to express and defend it. What you really wanted was for me to agree that it is okay for you to be too lazy and self-absorbed to seek an informed opinion.You say you are pro life while you cast millions to their deaths by your refusal to look for truth or share what you have. You say you love unconditionally while you list ‘agreement with or silence about’ your ill formed opinions and lies as a condition for communication with you.

You say you love me while you tighten your fingers around the neck of my ability to live. You are not going to provide my health care, my food, my shelter, my education, or my happiness. You are going to watch me die rather than give up stuff that you believe your god created.

The next time you want to tell me how much you love me, please complete the sentence.

(One day, I hope to use this title for a positive article about assisted suicide.)

Originally published to the internet around 2010

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