Justice+H’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2016


 * The Wondrous Virtue of Conformity in Freedom.**

It has brought life, and with it death. It has brought joy, and with it sorrow. It is the connection between centuries, the bridge between worlds. This is religion… Faith. Hope. But what is salvation for the few, is hell for many.

I want you all to imagine a dystopian world in where one’s faith is used and exploited by powerful men looking to become Gods. You would most probably and comfortably assume it to be a fictitious creation of Orwellian origins. Maybe even some of the more academically inclined will draw parallels between this and the Islamic state. However, what you will most likely not see is that this is not some novel about a totalitarian dictatorship, rather it is the state of our home, The United States of America. Everything from our politics to our currency alludes and revolves around some form of monotheistic belief. “IN GOD WE TRUST”. It seems as if our country has with it a default religion that millions must share. Now, granted it is true that a Christian based religion is by far the abundant throughout the country, but by no means is it the only.

Our nation was founded upon the virtues of freedom. Thousands fled their oppressive countries searching for a new frontier, searching for the freedom of the chains that bound their beliefs that forced them to conform. Naturally they found themselves occupying the American seaboard colonies, and these “freedom fighters” fought for our rising nation to be a safe haven for tolerance among the world. However this right has been tarnished and spat upon in recent years.

All of this begs the question, are we truly “free”? Do we have religious tolerance? It's a difficult question to answer, for we certainly do from a legal standpoint. But just recently gay marriage was legalized. You may fairly ask yourself how do homosexual rights have anything to do with the freedom of religion. But it has EVERYTHING to do with it. This sociopolitical issue is just one of many dilemmas where rich, powerful, conservative men and women use their political away to further their own religious agenda. There will never, ever, be an argument made against things like gay marriage or even abortion that was not regurgitated from Holy scripture. This religious fundamentalism in our government is the cancer of our society, and will most certainly be its downfall.

In a world without weapons, religion is the most deadly. Kings from centuries ago knew this all too well, powerful individuals like Emperor Constantine of the early fourth century was infamous for his alterations in the Holy bible. He did this because he knew when one has divine scripture to back up their claims and ideologies, millions will follow, and millions did, and millions still do. Granted they may not be following an old dead man, but there are many like him today. For example, when Mitt Romney ran for presidency in the 2012 election he stood on the basis of his Mormon beliefs, which included, but not limited to, his racial viewpoints, ethnic standings, and concerns on homosexuality. This is the root problem in modern day politics, elections are not won based on whether or not someone raises the national debt by 5.5%, or by someone lowering poverty rates by 4, rather they are won when middle America looks on the television and sees a politician campaigning for social beliefs that mirror their own, and these politicians know this all too well. So when Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney stand up and give a speech about how much they hate gay people because it's against God’s will, all the gay hating masses of the country unite and say “I like that guy” because he thinks the same way. This is horrifying. These religious fundamentalists in our government are controlling and taking over our country using the “power of God”.

Now don't misinterpret my speech as being anti-Religion or anti-God, it certainly isn’t. In the America I want to grow old in everyone can believe whatever they want, and anyone can find salvation in any faith they choose. However, in the world I want to take part in, Religion simply has no part to play in politics. It is used to brainwash, oppress, and kill, all in guise of “God’s grace.” So if we, as a country, continue down this path of ignorance and manipulation we are almost all certainly damned.

**Sources:** http://mormonsandgays.org/

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/11/politics/romney-ryan/

http://2012.republican-candidates.org/Romney/Same-Sex.php