A John Lennon Quote

“We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight.”

This is a quote from John Lennon. It has always been one of my favorites because it gets right to the heart of the problems of the world that seem to defy resolution. We just had an election in the US that placed a Progressive view of things against a very reactionary and conservative view. Thankfully, the Progressive side came out ahead here in Virginia, but the election was still very close. I have a difficult time reconciling my beliefs with those who would keep the population held down.

The problems that we face cannot be summed up through this one quote, but I believe that there is a larger truth that is addressed in these words. The rights of a segment of the population are constantly being held hostage by the reactionary political agenda of the conservatives. The believe that the LGBT community should have no rights at all, let alone equal rights under the laws that govern our country. The constant attacks on the LGBT community are an effort to keep all of us blind to the larger truth, and that is when one of us, or a segment of the population is held down then we all suffer.

I have heard all the arguments about LGBT wanting “special rights” when in effect the opposite is the case. LGBT only want the protection and the equality that is already guaranteed to them under the law. There are no “special rights” when the law is applied evenly and fairly to us all.

The latest episode is the remarkably insane argument that granting LGBT their rights under the law somehow commits a greater crime of stifling the “religious freedom” of those who wish to continue the persecution of the LGBT community. I find it hard to believe that so many otherwise normal people would be willing to entertain this type of insanity and lend it credence. If your religion is based in hatred to that degree, then I really see no need of it at all. That is because the

same people who want to claim this privilege are the same ones that claim their religion is based on love and not hate! Nothing about this argument makes any sense whatsoever.

John Lennon speaks of having to hide to make love while violence happens all around us in broad daylight. He was, and is, absolutely right about this. What is wrong with us when this type of activity is so prevalent in our country? Even as LGBT rights are becoming more accepted and recognized, those who resist are becoming more and more desperate and more and more hateful at the same time. To cloak these feelings in the excuse of god is rather sickening. And yet, these same people are the most willing to glorify violence in the name of their religion and its purity. The rhetoric from the conservatives is offensive and harmful to everyone, but we allow it to go on regardless.

Perhaps we will reach a point in the future where these issues will have been resolved. I have my doubts that I will live to see that day because religion is a strong addiction to break. Admitting that you have been lied to and used for the benefit of others cannot be easy, but I believe that is what it will take for all of us to really be free. We can be free without god and religion, I personally do not see a way in which we can be free and still accommodate the outdated dogma of religion.

John Lennon was a truly insightful man. He was taken from us far too early. Remember that he was taken by the very violence that he talks about in his quote.