Those few things alone should pretty much explain my need for a space to rant about issues. You'll find me ranting on religious issues. You'll catch me ranting about politics. You'll sometimes even see me ranting about random things that just don't seem to fit the rest of what's going on.

I'm hoping that at least most of the rants I've written and will write will encourage others to speak up. Everyone has opinions. I even set up a message forum for discussions so that those opinions could be shared. My hope is that the opinions expressed won't just be repetitions of what people have been told over and over. I'd like to hear people's personal opinions. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you agree or disagree with something. And don't stop there. Tell me why. Why do you like the rant? Why do you think I'm out of my mind? Why do you feel I need to conform where I don't? People these days seem to be so full of opinions (I'm no exception), but most don't ever have anything to say to back those opinions. Well get those brain cells flowing and share your thoughts!

October 2005

So who is this weird little girl talking about ranting and raving and over-exaggerating? The one who may just be sane after all and panics at the supposed signs of a country's dream gone lost? Well, I can tell you a bit about me, I suppose.

I have a bit of a dilemma. You'll understand it in a bit. That is why I can't decide what name or alias to go by and just how much to tell. You see, I have family and friends whom there are things I haven't told them that I plan to shortly, but would rather they not stumble upon this and hear it from, well not me face to face. Then there is a particular community, mostly online for me for several reasons, that I feel, while there are those who would understand me, would be quicker to judge me should I reveal the same bit hinted at above. Again, I don't plan to be secretive for too much longer, but I'd rather not just throw this together and shock them all right away without them hearing it from me in a personalized setting. So for the time being, I'll go by America's Dreams, the name of the site. I had thought about going by simply America as it is a name after all, and a woman's at that. However, I realized that to some people that may give the wrong idea and I'd rather look like I'm going by the name of my site than as some ego-centric weirdo, though I'm sure I probably look like that already anyway.

So what's my dilemma? Well, I've recently (or sort of recently anyway) decided to enlist in the US Army. It's something I've been planning to do, or rather thought of doing a few times before. However, I've always been talked out of it or at least half-convinced that it wasn't right for me. Go people telling me to think for myself telling me what to do, right? In the past few years that this has been a possible path for me, I've had hope in America. Sure, it has its problems. It has its faults. It has its people who aren't always so great no matter how high we hold our heads. And yes, we have had those in positions of power that have not done agreeable things (or more recently, right out senseless, useless, or horrible things, but we'll save that for a rant later on). The point of the matter is that my hope has been wavering a bit. Since my decision to enlist in the Army and go through with it this time, I've watched Sandra Day O'Connor retire (whose seat is still not yet filled) and Chief Justice William Rehnquist pass on. As if these weren't sad enough, I've watched John Roberts, a man who is known to be against anything Constitutional and all for anything Unconstitutional (I'm speaking of the obvious cases, not the ones that would require interpretation), breeze right through Congress and make it right into the seat of Chief Justice. Tell me what true American who knows damn well that the Constitution is the heart of this country and that the job and sole responsibility of a Supreme Court Justice is to uphold the Constitution and to deem whatever passes through its court to be Constitutional or Unconstitutional didn't drop their jaws in sheer amazement of the flat out neglect to notice that John Roberts was not suited for such a task? Why do we let the President nominate those who can pretty much give and take away Constitutional rights and are given the responsibility for life again? Don't talk about checks and balances when you explain it. That went out the window already if you failed to notice.

Sigh. I'm already ranting and I'm supposed to be explaining a dilemma here. So as you can see I'm getting to a point where I'm scared that this country is going to become the complete opposite of what it was meant to stand for in the first place. Seeing as there's still an ounce of that dream, I figure it's not going to hurt to serve the country I love now before it's against me. However, I fear it might change for the absolute worst much quicker than I'm thinking it's going to take. I didn't expect Bush to take over the Supreme Court by the end of this year, after all. Who knows just how quickly he'll pull off whatever Unconstitutional thing he seems to be striving towards?

So what do I mean by the country I love turning against me? Well, I'm a minority. A religious one. Now no matter your religious views, don't tune me out because of mine. I mention them here only to better explain the dilemma. When speaking of government and politics, it's so much better to leave religion and such out of the discussions. What the Bible, Koran, or Tolkien novel says is not going to help the cause either way. Get over it. Ahem. That said, I am a Pagan. Wiccan to be more specific. For anyone unfamiliar with these terms or who has just had images of demons and devil worship pop into your head: Please do a simple online search while you're on the internet and avoid overly bias and obviously propagandizing sources to the best of your ability. For everyone else, maybe reading through this site as I put it together will help you understand my stance. Now in recent years, Wiccans have been more open to the idea of being in the military. However, I still can easily find those of the community who would look at me like I'm a poser and do not belong all because of my career choice. Whether it's because they think of Wicca as too peaceful of a religion to think of military as even an option or they simply do not agree with the idea at the time for whatever, probably decent, reason, I'd rather not take the chances of losing good friends or at least having their opinions of me change all because I decided to make a career move. Don't think of it as why should a Wicca be in the military? Think of it as why should anyone be in the military? Because wars will be fought. Whether it's for a "just" reason, for protection, or simply a matter of personal agendas, wars will be fought. I would rather fight a war I think is stupid, pointless, and being waged only because a few people are too scared to just duel it out amongst eachother like real men/women and send other people in instead than to watch it. I'd rather the military remain voluntary. I would rather there be no need for anyone to even consider reinstating the draft. I'd rather not fight a useless war, but I'd rather fight it so others wouldn't have to than to watch them be forced into it later on. Sometimes the best way to protect your loved ones is to do things so that they won't have to.

If you've been reading along quite easily, it's obvious that I have two major fears and thus my dilemma. Is this country making quick turns for the worse to a point that I'll want nothing to do with it? Will my religious community which gives support when needed shun me for my personal career choice? The second question is a simple matter of the community getting over misconceptions and stereotypes. The first, however, depends on the people of this country. It doesn't take much to lose faith in our people, with how lazy they seem to have become. I have hope, though, that everything will be okay. There's a few hurdles that will have to be hopped to get back on track, but I know that the people who still believe in America feel strongly towards it.