|
Originally Posted by truncated
Right, to clarify:
This was not an 'exciting' event. I think arrests were made for the sake of public appearance; it wasn't an exceptionally violent altercation.
I was not formally charged, but I am not sure if that was because a. the arrests were for procedure's sake or b. (this sounds tacky) I work with the police, and yes, I took advantage of this and made the appropriate phone calls to get my ass out of trouble. However, I don't think any of the pious pricks were charged, either.
Irrelevant information: You're allowed to protest/demonstrate on public property here as long as you don't disrupt what is considered to be ordinary traffic. i.e., you can picket retail establishments as long as you don't significantly block store entrances or prevent customers from entering in some other manner.
So I suspect the police got involved only because it was near a shopping center, and to observe municipal law, they were sort of obligated to break it up and create the appearance of keeping peace.
ANYHOW
The arrest isn't the point, and nor is the issue of abortion, technically. Under other circumstances, I wouldn't have gotten involved in any way, because my stance on such an issue isn't really any of these people's business. I'm certainly not going to change their minds, so I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of baiting me.
What DOES vex me, however, is the underlying idea of people who IMPOSE upon you. No matter how personally objectionable I may find an idea, I ordinarily do not take issue with other who may hold it - whether you're a Christian fundamentalist, extreme leftist, hell, if you're into bestiality - as long as you KEEP IT CONFINED TO YOURSELF. Once you enter my sphere, that's an unforgivable violation of boundaries.
I simply cannot understand people who do not respect individual opinion. You have NO RIGHT to hold my behaviors to YOUR moral standards. You have NO RIGHT to APPROACH me, attempting to sell your ideology. You have NO RIGHT to DISRUPT MY DAY in an attempt to further YOUR personal agenda.
I abhor pro-lifers with every fiber of my being, but I, unlike them, am content to let each of us hold our respective opinions. They are not, and therein lies the difference.
My long-winded rant is not confined to this particular group of people, but to that general mentality that causes people to try to convert you to their 'side.' The people who attempt to pressure you into various social activities. The people who act with complete disregard for those around them, because they ASSUME that their standards are the only ones by which others should abide.
I'm pissed off because I didn't get a haircut, all because some self-important assholes decided that their opinion was worthy of being broadcast to the masses. I generally abide by "Live and let live," and still maintain that those who do not should be collectively shot.
|