My most political blog yet!

I tend not to get into politics on this blog.  People are entitled to their own beliefs and opinions, and I don't want to sound preachy.  However, this is my blog, and I can do what I want with it.  So here I go!

Yesterday, June 26th, 2013, the Supreme Court struck down the Defense Of Marriage Act, and in my opinion, it was about bloody time.  I have no idea why people are so horrified at the thought of same-sex marriage -- "It's an abomination!  The Bible says so!"  Well, the Bible also says you can stone your wife and sell your daughter.  My point is, picking and choosing what parts of the Bible to zealously enforce and what parts to completely ignore is absolutely ridiculous.  Also, I'm pretty sure the Bible is anti-divorce, but that doesn't seem to stop more than half of our "sacred unions" from ending  up in divorce.  If people truly love each other, I don't see how orientation has anything to do with it.

Anybody remember Jesus?  You know, the son of God who came among us to preach about love, forgiveness, and brotherhood?  The same guy who told us not to judge, lest we be judged?  I thought you might.  People spend so much of their time and energy hating each other that we forget one simple truth: we are God's children, and He loves us.  And if God loves us, shouldn't we do the same for each other?

Don't get me wrong -- I am by no means a perfect man.  Far from it.  But I don't understand what is so wrong with allowing my fellow human beings, my brothers and sisters, to be accepted by our society, regarded as one of the best on the planet, as equals.

Speaking of equals...what is with the misplaced anger towards women?  And why do politicians seem almost gleeful when showing their contempt of them?  Society seems to be in this strange atmosphere of making women feel ashamed of themselves for just being women, and it's absolutely horrendous.

I'm going to be honest with you: I love women.  I am a big fan of the female form.  Does that mean I'm completely unable to control myself when I'm around women?  Of course not.  Self-control is not a horrible burden on my lifestyle; shaming women into blaming themselves when men act completely inappropriately towards them only reinforces the concept that men don't have to take or accept any responsibility for their actions.  That's the crux of the thing: men pushing responsibility away from themselves and on to others.

I'm happily married to a wife that I love and adore.  Some of my closest, dearest friends are women.  In my life I have found women to be strong, brave, funny, and (more often than not) a hell of a lot smarter than I am.  Do I resent them because of these things?  Of course not!  It makes me appreciate them all the more.  I do not feel threatened or emasculated by them -- I love them, and they love me.  My wife trusts that I will behave myself, and I'm gratified by her trust in me.

I'm going to dip my toe a bit into the issues surrounding women's health these days, particularly when it comes to abortion.  Make no mistake: I don't like abortion.  I am not a fan.  But who is?  Are there really people walking around thinking, "Man, I can't wait to get pregnant, so I can have an abortion!"?  I just don't think that's the case.  That being said, I believe wholeheartedly in a woman's right to choose.  It's her body: I don't believe that I have any right to decide for her what she can or can't do with it.  It's particularly disheartening when old white men (for the most part) feel that they do have the right to decide what they can or can't do with their bodies.  The sad truth is that abortions will happen, and if we remove the capacity to have them performed safely and efficiently, then all we're doing is asking for procedures done in conditions that are dangerous.

Whew.

I think it's time to wrap this up.  Sorry to get all preachy, but this stuff has really been on my mind a lot lately.  I've discovered recently that I can get really passionate when I read and hear about women being treated unfairly -- it really bothers me.  And I'm sure there are more eloquent ways to say what I'm feeling, and I'm also sure there are things I've left out, but I think the gist is there.

I'm not trying to offend.  Like I said, you are entitled to your beliefs.  I just felt like explaining mine.

I promise my next blog post will have more to do with music.  I'm very excited about the new album: a lot of ideas swirling around.  I think it's going to be a good one.

Cheers,
Aaron
www.aarongabriel.net

It has begun

Really sorry about how long it's been taking me to keep up on these blogs.  At the same time, I figure it would just get really annoying if I was constantly blogging, so...it's all about balance, I guess.

As I'm sure you surmised from the vague and somewhat ominous title, I have begun work (finally) on the new album!  This past weekend I recorded "Be My All," which is what I'm planning on using as the opening track.  I'm very pleased with how it came out -- if the rest of the album comes out as well, I'll be sitting pretty indeed.

Have you heard of The Thrilling Adventure Hour?  If you haven't, you should check it out, because it is simply fantastic.  http://thrillingadventurehour.com

All in all, not a whole lot more to add to this post.  So sorry -- not all of them are going to be brilliant.  But if you haven't visited my website in a while, please do!  I've made quite a bit of changes to the layout that I'm quite happy with.

Cheers,
Aaron
www.aarongabriel.net