It’s Time For America To Get Its Head Out Of The Toilet

The North Carolina so called “Bathroom Law” is really getting a lot of attention of late.

My question is-why does the government have to regulate every aspect of our lives? It has been in our bedrooms for years and now it wants in our bathrooms as well.

As I researched this I found that there have been regulations determining how many toilets companies must provide and where they can locate them and now they must determine how to label them and who should follow those labels.

As a female “cisgender”-this is a new term I learned in my research, (it means that my biology matches my gender identification), I, along with many others of my category, have violated the gender labels of toilets throughout our whole lives. This is for the very fact that there is usually a longer line in the women’s room and often the men’s room is empty so my friends and I have “covered” for eachother while we used the vacant stalls in our opposite gendered bathroom. I would venture that there are far more female cisgenders that have seen the inside of a men’s room than male cisgenders that have seen the inside of a women’s room.

Sporting Arenas are notorious for underserving my category. They were built with a strong bias in favor of my opposite gender.  Women have become equally avid sports fans but the restrooms did not reflect that.  Potty Parity Laws have come to the forefront in recent years to correct this.

The North Carolina law asks that people use the restroom based on the gender on their birth certificate. This is not really a “fix” for those who want to discriminate against the LGBT community because most states (including North Carolina) will allow those who want to change their gender identification, to change it on their birth certificate or issue a new one regardless of whether or not they have gender reassignment surgery.

My question regarding this is-does this mean you will be required to carry your birth certificate with you to use a restroom in a government facility in North Carolina?

One transgender male created special identification cards  to fend of suspicion when using a Women’s room.

The craziest outcome of the North Carolina bathroom law is that businesses and entertainers are boycotting the state because of it. This was not a law voted on by the population of North Carolina. It was written and voted in by its legislature and yet the people they serve are paying the price for their decision.

If the legislature is so concerned about the safety and privacy of its citizens while in government buildings, then the only right thing to do is to charge these elected officials a special fee from their salaries to retrofit the buildings with private bathroom stalls and showers that can be accessed and used individually regardless of gender identification. Maybe porta potties on each floor of government buildings is the answer.

Anarchy-The Cure To The Collective Evil of Statism?

I have written before about the Anarchy of The Walking Dead– how appealing it is to the viewing audience in a world of encroaching government power and limiting personal freedom.

I wrote about how time and time again it is the organization of the surviving humans into any form of hierarchy that leads to more problems than the Walkers that roam the land. We, as an audience have endured the evil leadership of the Governor in the prison, Gareth in Terminus, and Owen of the Wolves.  Their lust for power perpetrated acts of murder on the surviving humans. Perhaps CS Lewis is describing the kind of evil that lead to so much death in Alexandria.  It was Deanna’s kind tyranny that left its inhabitants vulnerable and unprotected in a dangerous world:

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

 

In each instance the corruption of power leads to death and suffering.

I wrote about this in my book Blessed Are They That Hunger in my chapter “We Hunger For Leadership”.  Man’s inherent evil nature is compounded by the power of setting some in position to lead others.

This pattern began centuries ago and continues to this day as kings, and dictators and presidents throughout human history have led to the suffering, loss of freedom and death of those they lead.

As Season 6 of The Walking Dead comes to its finale, we meet a new, evil leader-Negan.  His evil tyranny is the most barbaric and primitive of all.  Even the murderous cannibals at Terminus tried to be humane in their slaughter, but Negan and his followers are prone to torture and murder their victims mercilessly.

We are subject to the brutal death of one of Rick’s team members in the final scene at the hand of Negan’s barbed-wire wrapped bat named “Lucille”. We hear the thud of broken bones and the splatter of blood but no clue of who is the victim.

Negan has a huge following and would be no match for them if they chose to rebel against his leadership. As I watched this horrific scene, my thought was to those who silently allowed it and watched.  The blood was on their hands as much as Negan’s.

It made me reflect on so many evil leaders throughout history who were allowed by the silent acquiescence of their followers to propagate their evil. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, were enabled by the masses they ruled to cause the slaughter and suffering of millions.

And now, we as Americans, are facing the prospect of  candidates for president  that want more power. They want power to discriminate against cultural groups, enforce social equality by suppressing economic freedom, power to invade our privacy, and power to enforce morality.

May we never be silent to Evil. May we always fight for justice for the victims of brutal oppression in the World.  May we always be our brother’s keeper.