Equality Golbat: “It’s awful that attacking Planned Parenthood shuts down the 97% that is non-abortion services, and the loss of abortion-related services is also a tragedy.”

The defunding of Planned Parenthood isn’t a tragedy just because referrals for abortions aren’t the only things Planned Parenthood does. It’s a tragedy because of all the things Planned Parenthood does including informing people about the option of abortion, which is an important and necessary part of a modern healthcare system.

–Nidoqueen

Equality Golbat: There shouldn’t be a compulsory pledge of allegiance to begin with.

I’m fully aware that the US Pledge of Allegiance violates separation of church and state. It’s also horribly inaccurate.

“Liberty and justice for all” doesn’t exist for our enormous prison population, societally oppressed groups, nor for the people whose cultures have been almost destroyed in the aftermath of American imperialism.

The US today is run as an oligarchy, not a republic, and certainly not a democracy.

And children who don’t even know the implications of swearing allegiance are being deprived of the ability to think critically about their country from the start.

-Glaceon

Abuse culture: A culture in which certain groups are treated as problems rather than people.

Let’s not pretend that abuse is “only a family problem”. In every setting, in every aspect of society, abuse runs rampant. Everyone not seen as “normal” is treated violently and inhumanely-whether it be through physical, financial, or emotional violence. Abuse is so ingrained in society that members of the group “normal” can say they believe other don’t people deserve to be happy, don’t deserve to be accepted, don’t deserve to express their feelings, or don’t deserve to live, without any repercussions whatsoever.

That, needless to say, is a huge problem. And navigating through the sea of abuse culture colors our lives in every way imaginable.