Liberal-Minded Bullying

“'Cos years have passed and things have changed;

And I move anyway I wanna go!

I'll never forget the feeling I got,

When I heard that you were home!

An' I'll never forget the smile on my face;

'Cos I knew where you would be!

An' if you're in the Crowd tonight,

Have a drink on me,

But go easy... Step lightly... Stay free...”

--Mick Jones, Joe Strummer of the Clash from the song “Stay Free.”

When I was younger, I, like many who read this, was teased.

I had very buck teeth from sucking my thumb for six years and the kids called me “Bucky.”

It took me a bit longer to “get over” my fear of falling off of my bike, and the kids made a song as they harmonized, “Eric Sweetwood, take off the training wheels… 1-2-3-4… Eric Sweetwood take off the training wheels.”

I had acne and was called Pizza face.

People made fun of my knobby knees, long-ish hair, and braces to correct the afore-mentioned buck teeth.

And now the name calling has changed even further:

I was shunned as I was pronounced that I am a “liberal.”

Let’s see, in our current society, a liberal does not thump a Bible and play “holier-than-thou.”

A liberal today seems open to all races.

A liberal does not judge a person’s sexuality.

A liberal does try to tell a person, particularly a female, as to what she can or cannot do to her body in the choices she makes.

A liberal is more often than not more educated and does not fear Devils and Boogie-men or other myths.

A liberal believes in making a profit, but understands that some people have misfortune and may need assistance due to circumstances beyond control.

A liberal believes there should be a reason to go to war and risk the security of America in the political scene.

And as a liberal, I refuse to accept stupidity, prejudice, bullying, and sanctimonious attitudes. I will no longer hide my intellect and I will work for the betterment of ALL people in our society rather than a select few.

The difference between my past and the bullying I took compared to now is that in the past, I had no choice about teeth, acne, knees, and fears.

Now I choose to be the name of ridicule.

So if you wish to use words like liberal or radical when you have disdain as you describe me, please remember that:

You may not be as intelligent as me;

You may consider yourself more cruel than me;

You probably act with more prejudice than me;

You seem to want to regulate what people do to their own bodies more than I do;

You wish to not question a war predicated on a falsehood;

You often wish to control others through fear;

And you often times deny freewill as you cherry pick phrases from a book of philosophy and apply those ideas as you see fit—ignoring what you may do.

Tread lightly when you spew your ignorance because in the words of Pete Townshend of the Who “We're not gonna take it; Never did and never will; We're not gonna take it;Gonna break it, gonna shake it; let's forget it better still!”