Why My Tribe Must Stand With Standing Rock

I am the member of a Tribe, but I am neither Native American nor Canadian First Nations. I am not an Indigenous or Aboriginal person. I have no homeland to call my own, because I am the proverbial 'Wandering Jew'. My people wander the earth, immortal in our ability to transmit our culture through generations, but without a homeland or place to rest until the end of time.

I was raised in a Conservative Jewish home, I went to Hebrew School, I went to synagogue with my family. We celebrated Jewish holidays, practised ancient traditions, ate some pretty impressive food, and remembered our people's history. My family is descended on both sides from the Tribes of Y'israel, not the most holy Cohen Tribe. You might know something of the Cohen Tribe, Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame introduced a very critical piece of Jewish religiosity in the symbol of the Vulcan Salute. He first noted this hand gesture as a child when in temple with his family, whose Cohen roots called for special observances, one of which was making the hand signal presenting the Hebrew letter Shin (ש meaning Shaddai, another name for g-d) during the most high holidays, such as Yom Kippur. The point is, the Jewish people have a Tribal history rich and vibrant as any Indigenous culture, and we share one more thing, a history of brutality and genocide against our people.

To me the Jewish practice of Tikkun Olam, a concept defined by acts of kindness performed to perfect or repair the world, is my guiding principle.

I am a survivor too, not just from general anti-semitism, but because I am descended of an orphan of the Holocaust. My ancestors were driven from their homeland to place to yet another place, facing religious and ethnic persecution at every turn. My maternal grandfather (may his memory be but a blessing) was the youngest of his family of 8 brothers and sisters living in Mezerich, in what is now the Ukraine. He was the only one not yet married, and the only one without children. His parents were aged, and he was sponsored to come to Canada in the early thirties by a Canadian family, where he first worked in a lumber camp in Manitoba, but later settled in what is now Thunder Bay, Ontario. My grandfather never turned a hungry man away from his home, when he was married and settled he often had young Jewish refugees to Canada join his family for meals on the Sabbath, sharing what little they had. He also worked in his tiny Jewish community, preparing burial clothes without knots in the stitching so the soul can freely leave the body. Like many Indigenous groups, we have very important ways of honoring and remembering our dead.

When my Zaida went back to Poland, to the Shtetl to visit his family, on what would be his final time, he sailed the oceans for weeks. At a time when you travelled long voyages on ships, you planned to stay for more than a few days. When he arrived, his family knew what was coming for them, the Nazi party had risen to power in Germany, and they were fearful he might not be allowed to leave. He left as soon as it could be arranged. On his return to Canada's safe embrace, he wrote letter after letter to the dozens upon dozens of family and friends he left behind by no choice of his own. No letter ever got through. They were all returned to his empty hands and heart.

We now know the entire town was rounded up and shot into a mass grave nearby. Women, children, the elderly, each and every person were slaughtered for no other reason than being who they were, born into a different set of beliefs, but still so very human, so entitled to live a life free of tyranny and violence. He had only one cousin, a fragile and gentle woman, who survived under the care of her resourceful husband and his connections with a network of Polish farmers who hid them in holes dug deep into the earth under withering fields for years. She had a serious mental breakdown during her time in the freezing ground, she never got over the loss of her family, not ever, and her luck in making it to the US after the war, to live in Detroit, Michigan was the only thing that saved her.

My maternal grandmother had wanted to be a nurse, but was dissuaded as it wasn't something nice Jewish girls did. She instead volunteered her spare time to work in a local hospital for the mentally ill. She was one of the first in her large family born in Canada, and had remarkable progressive parents. On occasions they even let her eat non-kosher food if she chose to do so, as she was the one in control of her own person. I know that my mother is the product of their influence and modelling, and I followed in kind. I am the Nurse my grandmother was not allowed to be, and it is a connection to her I will always treasure.

I am no longer religious, I choose to call myself spiritual; I believe in something that connects and surrounds us all, a power in people and in nature and the universe that is magical and wondrous and continues on and on. To me the Jewish practice of Tikkun Olam, a concept defined by acts of kindness performed to perfect or repair the world, is my guiding principle. The phrase is found in the Mishnah, a body of classical rabbinic teachings, is often used when discussing issues of social policy, insuring a safeguard to those who may be at a disadvantage. It is the very basis of my essence, a belief in Social Justice, Human Rights, and Civil Rights for each and every being on this planet. We will gain more from the lifting up of others than we can ever learn from dividing and labeling. We have richer lives through embracing our diversity and commonality than by fighting it.

My views on the State of Israel are conflicted, and not really something I generally care to discuss. I do however find the ongoing war against innocent Palestinians to be the most shameful aspect of Israeli politics, and as I am Ashkenazi (European) as opposed to Sephardic (Middle-Eastern) I do not see Israel as my homeland, certainly not as it exists today. But I have hope. We must recognize that the 'Jewish State' is currently at war with another Indigenous population, and I cannot condone it.

But what has this got to do with the Indigenous Peoples of North and South Dakota, the Lakota and Sioux Nations? It is very simple. They have historically faced the same religious violence, forced migration, and outright genocide in even greater numbers than the Jewish people. Religion aside, it is wrong, it was wrong in Nazi occupied Europe, and it is wrong in every other part of the world where the First Nations and Aboriginal people face ongoing abuses to this day, and it is wrong at Standing Rock.

We may have spread far and wide, but when you look at our DNA, we are all family, we are all of the same Tribe, we are humanity itself.

We must come together as Tribal peoples, Jews (religious or not) and Native Americans share a similar tragic history. Our strength of culture and will to survive in the face of the most heinous treatment is the same. Our desire to connect to each other, to the land, to educate our own children to be able to face the harsh realities in the world mirror each other. Memory is important to us, our history is our shared legacy to our children. But most importantly, we cannot rest on our promise to never let it happen again. The Jewish people, though fewer in numbers, scattered across the globe, and divided by different adherence to religious and spiritual beliefs, have managed to bring the world's attention to our history, we are visible - but most importantly, we can also move with a degree of invisibility as a minority. Financially, the successes of our people have given us a voice and a presence that, although under greater anti-semitic threat that in previous eras, allows us to demand protection from governments and the United Nations. Indigenous peoples have less visibility, less mainstream voices, and therefore they are often set aside or misunderstood by those who refuse to acknowledge their shattering history.

The First Nations people I know personally are some of the most spiritually self-actualized people of my acquaintance. The have an innate ability to take the abuses they have faced and move through them with dignity and a grace I will never accomplish. I cannot speak for every single individual, and in every group, even my own, there are those whose actions I cannot condone. But I see so much common ground, so many echoes with my own history, that I cannot help but feel connected to the Water Protectors and every other person who is standing up and speaking out about the ongoing indignities being perpetrated against Native Americans. Their sovereign lands, their religious and spiritual places, their life sustaining resources are being destroyed in the name of greed, and it is unconscionable.

If my 'Hebrew' Tribe cannot see that we are connected to every other Tribe and every other oppressed group facing government interventions meant to steal vital resources and sacred lands, then we have learned nothing. We have learned nothing from our own history, and nothing from the values intellectuals and scientists who are telling us that we have already passed the point of no return on Climate Change. If we do not "Stand with Standing Rock" now, then we will have the blood of future generations on our hands, because together, we can stop this history from repeating.

When they burned down our Synagogues, destroyed our cemeteries and used our ancestors headstones to pave their roads, we were horrified. We wondered why the world was ignoring our plight, We prayed that it would end, that life would return to normal, that we could travel and practise our religion openly and with pride. We saw the desecration of our most sacred places, we were fed scraps and treated like animals housed in blocks behind barbed wire. We were witness to the ashes of our friends, families, neighbors, and communities being blown in great grey clouds over our living dead bodies, mere shells of bodies too weak and terrorized to think or protest.

We are seeing people tossed into prisons, their Human Rights violated, terrorized, numbered, and separated from their fellow Protectors.

Now we see the razor wire going up around Turtle Island, a sacred burial and prayer site. We see the militarized 'Oil Police' committing war crimes upon an unarmed, peaceful group of Water Protectors. We see people tossed into prisons, their Human Rights violated, terrorized, numbered, and separated from their fellow Protectors. We see misinformation moving through the media, propaganda from Energy Transfer Partners and North Dakota Governor Dalrymple. We see threats of restrictions on food, water, building supplies, and necessities of life being moved to the Oceti Sakowin Camp. The government of North Dakota is literally trying to 'Concentrate' the population of Protectors, remove all non-Native residents, and actively jam and block access to the media and communication with the outside world. The jailing and maiming of Journalists trying to cover the events and pass the story on to people outside of Standing Rock has been a hallmark of this movement. We have seen the denial of Emergency Services, medication for arrested individuals being withheld, and growing aggression from Dakota Access Pipeline builders and contractors. We have leaders that remain silent at this critical moment in history. Does this not strike anyone else as an echo of the Holocaust we swore we would never forget? I cannot be the only one to see the irony of Bankers and Politicians (some of them of Jewish heritage) perpetuating and participating in these Human Rights abuses on the most oppressed peoples in the United States today.

We must stand up, we must stand together. We all are descended of the same genome, the same ancient ancestors. We may have spread far and wide, but when you look at our DNA, we are all family, we are all of the same Tribe, we are humanity itself. I will forever stand beside those who face the kinds of oppression my ancestry has known through the ages. My heart is with the Water Protectors who have not only faced such a history, but still have managed to stay connected to the land, and still understand the connection between humans and the environment. It is the Indigenous peoples ability to see into the future that makes them so remarkable, for they can see something many of us cannot. We have one planet, one place to live, all of us share in it's ability to heal and thrive and flourish, and we will all share in it's destruction if we don't make this course correction now.

Education For All

Those who still see socialism as an image of 'cold war' Soviet Union era government corruption haven't gotten the memo.  In the early eighties we saw images on our televisions of people lining up to buy scarce resources like toilet paper. We confuse socialism' with 'Communism', a regime that was corrupt, closed off from the rest of the world, and hopelessly lacking in all social supports. Real socialism is not about the suppression of capitalism, isolationist nationalism, and it isn't about state controlled media. Nor is socialism it about everyone going without, particularly everyone who is not part of an elite and controlling government regime.

The so-called 'Socialism' seen in the former Soviet Union, North Korea, or Cuba is not the same socialist democracy that US Senator Bernie Sanders has been speaking of as he successfully spread his message of ensuring all member of society to have access to basic Human Rights. Bernie speaks of socialism in terms of some of the most successful social programs in US history.  The right to a living wage, the right to Universal Healthcare, Social Security, the right to a livable environment, and the right to have equal access to education.

Today I want to discuss the notion of Education as a social institution, something that we find perfectly acceptable for the nation's children, but many seem to think must end after public high-school.  Why this arbitrary cut-off occurs as young adults are poised to either continue with higher education, or enter the workforce is telling. Those without post-secondary education are most likely to work in dead-end service jobs, find little to no room for advancement, and are equipped with fewer tools for carving out small business endeavors. This is a widely known connection, I am not telling anyone anything new. So why do we end the socialist education program we credit with making America an educated super-power at the arbitrary cut-off point of high-school?

While Republicans, Regressionists, and Centrist Democrats fail to see the Progressive movement as more than just pie-in-the-sky load of 'free stuff'' for moochers, and laugh off Progressive concepts as more than 'unicorns' and 'rainbow' dreams, no one has discussed the fact that by creating taxpayers and tax-paying jobs, you create a self-funding system. It may take time, but a self-sustaining post-secondary education system is just one of the many benefits of taxpayer funded education initiatives.

Bernie Sanders clarified the issue with no-nonsense practical language. In April 2015, Sanders stated his position thusly, "higher education should be a right".  If an individual is qualified, willing, and able to achieve higher education, that person should have a path to achieve certification or a degree without having to dive into a sea of debt to do it.  No one is suggesting that all applicants should be given a cost-free Ivy League education, but state-run colleges and universities should remain accessible to those willing to put in the time and effort, and that education needs to be of a competitive quality.  This is what socialism really is about, giving everyone the same opportunity to advance, the same empowerment and chance of success, without being penalized for lacking the financial means to do so.

There will always be the cost of administration fees, reading materials, education tools, housing, and food for the socialist post-secondary student. What we need to ensure is that any fees are reasonable, that they are competitive, and that they don't penalize an individual and threaten their future well being by saddling them with endless student debt.

The more educated a person is, the more able they are to participate in the workforce, the more likely they are to have a positive effect on the economy. Other countries, such as Finland, fully cover all education costs for their citizens, and as a result have higher rates of innovation, quality of life, and stable economies. No country has reached the perfect balance of funding all social programs while keeping more money in taxpayer pockets, but there is a great argument to be made that the net gains will always outweigh any losses. Over time, a well educated and engaged population can find ways to better manage the allocation of social resources to eliminate redundancy, and to further improve outcomes. It takes a whole lot of guts to flip the system on it's head and offer more social services to those who have been left out or left behind. It may seem like a losing idea, but Bernie Sanders and other progressive voices are paving the way for enough people to take the 'socialist' plunge.

Pro-Birth, Pro-Life, or Pro-Choice: My Truth About Abortion

Recently, as I regularly do, I left a comment on a facebook post by Senator Bernie Sanders, a man I admire greatly. In this particular post, Sanders made a very personal statement about his religion and family history. He was likely motivated by the DNC Wikileaks documents that questioned his religion and beliefs, something that should never matter in a country that claims a separation of Church and State. I was disgusted by this cruel 'tactic' to take down a decent man who wants to serve his country in the most selfless way. This post was extremely moving for me. I also identify as culturally Jewish, I was raised that way, and even though I am not religious in my adult life, I still am Jewish in every other way. That's why I felt the need to leave a comment;

My response had me in tears, out of respect for Bernie Sanders and for my own lost heritage, for the man he is and the way he inspires me. I wrote;


Every child and grandchild of the survivors of the Holocaust, and every other act of genocide known to history [and modern times] is proud to stand with you Bernie Sanders and fight for a world where everyone valued for who they are and their right to simply live in peace and raise their children in safety and love. My grandfather was the only survivor of his immediate family too, but for a single cousin who found her home in Michigan. He came to Canada and never heard from his large family of sisters, brothers, their spouses and children, his parents, his whole community again. They lie in a mass grave for simply being Jews, and it still breaks my heart and makes me cry to think of all that lost potential, all the cruelty, humiliation, and the hatred that pitted neighbor against neighbor in the maelstrom of racism, fear and divisive tactics of the Nazi regime. I may not be a practicing Jew in the religious sense, but it is my heritage and my moral compass was set early on when my Zaida, the best man I have ever known, simply loved us and took joy from his grandchildren, never even speaking of the pain and loss, the intolerable cruelty he suffered. He would have loved you Bernie, and I love you, and thank you, for being the very best example of humanity and a true Mensch. You are a blessing to us all.

I didn't actually expect anyone to read it, I am rather verbose. But a few people did comment under mine. The first touched me, the second just pissed me off;

H.A.R. : We all stand with you and within Bernie. We promise we will never let it happen again, never again.

M.A. : If he's such a great guy why is he a supporter of the biggest genocide of our time, that being abortion?

Normally, I do not feed the trolls, but this one was so in my Nursing wheelhouse, I could not stop my fingers, and sarcasm, from flying across my keyboard.

"M.A. He doesn't support 'abortion', pro-abortion is not a thing. No sane person sits around saying, 'damn, there are just not enough abortions happening'. Bernie supports a woman's right to make her own educated decisions about what is right for her person. A decision based on personal religious, ethical, and moral beliefs and what is best for her physical and mental health in the moment. It is called being Pro-Choice. That choice is overwhelming to continue a pregnancy to term. In the rare case where a woman decides that termination of pregnancy is best for her, she will also be given legal access to that medical intervention.

The decision is that of the person in possession of the gravid uterus and any other person(s) she wishes to include, most often a spouse, partner, family member. Very few women make this decision hastily, they are asked to sign explicit consent forms before having any procedure, which include an explanation about any medical risks, future health concerns, and even a very explicit description of the procedure. She can still change her mind at any time until the actual procedure is initiated. Please note, in almost every State, women must be of legal age to obtain an abortion [without the consent of a parent], they must be within the first trimester of the pregnancy.

In Canada, and I suspect it is similar in the US, if a woman is past her first trimester she often cannot end a viable pregnancy without making an application to a medical ethics board that will evaluate her case. No doctors are mandated to perform the various procedures if their religious or ethical beliefs are in conflict with a woman's request or the ethics board."

But this whole issue has been spinning in my mind since I first responded to M.A. [name withheld to protect the ignorant]. What really pisses me off is this extreme anti-abortion position. Firstly, the term Genocide is not to be used lightly, and it certainly has nothing to do with an elective medical procedure. Genocide refers specifically to the deliberate murder of persons from a particular religion or ethnic group. Secondly, men are certainly entitled to their opinions about a woman's right to choose, but until you have a uterus and are in the position of having no options but to carry a pregnancy to term, even if it will be stillborn or unable to live outside the womb, you don't get to tell me what to do with my body. Most rational men understand this is a very personal issue for a woman and her family.

Those who profess to be militantly pro-life, or anti-abortion, baffle me in their absolute fervor and even violent protests. I respect everyone's right to their own opinions, moral or religious beliefs, but as a nurse who works in High Risk Obstetrics, I have been in the position where I have cared for a family facing the most difficult decision they may ever have to make, the choice to terminate a pregnancy because of a severe genetic or developmental condition. It is heart wrenching to watch a family both welcome and say goodbye to a life they very much love and want. It is not my place to judge these women, these families of varied cultures, religions, and beliefs; no one has that right. I have held tiny fragile stillborns, made handprints and footprints that will be treasured forever, and cried with families while the hospital chaplain said a blessing for them and the tiny dream that wasn't meant to be. It is emotional work and it is meaningful work, and it is important.

But there is more to the pro-life position that bothers me, and that is the sheer hypocrisy that lies in the name of this so-called 'movement'. If you are truly pro-life, that means all life, not just the un-born, but the living children in your own community. The children living at or below the poverty line, those attending sub-par schools, those who need school lunches because there is no food at home. If you are so very pro-life you should be anti-gun proliferation, anti-war, and fight for the rights of children across the country. You should get actively involved by becoming a foster parent, adopting a child in need of a loving home, or just volunteering your time working with kids in need.

What do we see instead? We see that Conservatives and the GOP, the 'family values' party, those who claim to be 'good' Christians, are the ones who want to make safe medical termination of pregnancy almost non-existent in America. The current Republican Party Nominee for President has said that there should be 'punishment' for those who seek legal abortions. These same political actors are the ones who refuse to stop the sale of guns to those on the Terrorist Watch List. In the US, they are gutting school lunch programs, refusing to consider Parental Leave allowances, actively trying to repeal accessible healthcare, and make radical cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. In my opinion, this is absolutely not a pro-life position. In truth, it is a pro-birth position.

Pro-birth is a much more accurate name for this system of beliefs. They want all women to carry all pregnancies to term, and once that child is born, they expect it to be raised in a social justice vacuum. These 'good' GOP Christians pass judgement and point fingers, shaming the very families that they have let down, calling them 'Takers', 'Welfare Queens', or worse. Currently there are close to 400,000 children living without permanent families in the foster care system. Over 100,000 of these children are eligible for adoption, but nearly 32% of these children will wait over three years in foster care before being adopted [1].

This by no means applies to all persons who have a religious or moral issue with abortion, it is a very hot button issue, very personal, very private. It does however apply to those who are trying to 'suck' and 'blow' at the same time. In one breath suggesting they are trying to protect the sanctity of life, and with the next cutting the social programs that new mothers and families desperately need to care for that new life. It is not only un-American, it is devoid of any humanity, any sense of propriety, and is absolutely contradictory to the pro-life narrative.

Bernie Sanders Has Brought Us Closer to "One Day"

Bernie Sanders will be talked about by future generations the same way people talk about Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, and other transformative figures in history. I believe this, and I am teaching my young nieces and nephew about how inspiring Bernie is. Bernie Sanders, his delegates, supporters, and each person that donated their time, talents, and passion to get Bernie's message out to the world have started a progressive revolution and reengaged countless numbers of disaffected voters. Our "One Day" will come, I believe in humanity, and Bernie is bringing us closer to that dream because he is such a decent man.

Matisyahu has been a curiosity to me since I first caught a performance on a random late-night show some time in 2006. Here was a man who was clearly comfortable with his personal beliefs, and who wrote songs that reverberated in my heart. It had nothing to do with his religion, he was saying things that I needed to hear, thing that matter to all of us. It is rare for someone coming from a traditionally close-knit Orthodox Jewish upbringing to move into public life, it is more rare when he sings, beatboxes, and has a remarkable reggae sensibility. Whatever personal journey Matisyahu is on at the moment, his music has always been remarkable.

I am not a religious person, I have no problem with people who are, who believe in a god or a higher power, that is the beauty of living in a democracy. I do not find prayer to be an answer to real scientific problems, I don't think it solves financial disasters, nor do I feel it is an absolute good. We know too much of the history of organized religion, and any ''holy scripture' can be manipulated to justify the most vicious and violent atrocities. I believe in the golden rule, that humans are overwhelmingly decent and good, and that we have more in common than not. I believe that positivity can overcome tremendous odds. I believe in the power of inspirational voices. When someone I know is hurting, I send them my most positive energy, my support, and my love, because to me those things are real.

I recently was sent a link to a video of an adorable young musical couple, YoNina, baby in arms, doing an acapella version of Matisyahu's "One Day" in a Carpool Karaoke moment [don't freak out, they were in a parked vehicle]. The words of the song really resonated with me as if I had never heard them before. I heard a song of peace, love, hope, and unity - and I thought of Bernie Sanders. Bernie, I want thank you for bringing us all closer to "One Day". We can get to that day, but only if we continue to make our voices heard. Matisyahu says it succinctly in this song. "One day this all will change, Treat people the same, Stop with the violence, Down with the hate".

Generativity Versus Stagnation: A Climate of Change

Being a Progressive isn't just about one person and one vote, it is about caring for your fellow humans, fighting for their rights too, and about leaving the world a better place for all our children. Today, after many tears and sheer exasperation, I decided to no longer share my opinions on the American election with my real world friends and family on my own Facebook page. Some people think that, as a Canadian, I should not be so invested in the American political dysfunction going on just south of our border. If you don't care, that is your choice. I care because the next four years of American environmental policy will affect each and every one of us, our children, and every generation to come, no matter what country or part of the world you are in.

Trump thinks climate change is a Hoax by the Chinese, Clinton thinks fracking is just fine and can be done safely in 'certain places'. Clearly there is no major American Political Party with an exclusive claim to stupid anymore. It's already too late to turn back the clock, entire species are going extinct, air is visibly polluted, sea levels are rising, oceans are being devastated by pollution and the bleaching of coral reefs, and wildfires are out of control in the US, Canada, and around the world. I could go on and on, but you get my point. We don't have another planet, another option other than immediate action, or a way get back all we have lost. If you think life is expensive now, imagine it when there is no more oil, no more coal, no more natural gas to be got, nothing clean and sustainable in place, and no petrochemicals to make the plastics and other elements so vital to the technology of today. We are striping the planet of more than fossil fuels, but also of rare minerals, metals, and materials that are finite elements. The refugees of Climate Change will far outnumber those from international conflict. Will we suddenly be better equipped to deal with an influx of people looking for higher ground, potable drinking water, and breathable air?

Go ahead and turn off your TV, don't read at the news, or treat it all as entertainment, but that doesn't mean this problem is going away. None of us wants to admit we have all been a party to what amounts to the rape of the planet, but the only thing worse than unwillingness to own our history is letting it go on while watching and saying nothing. I know that while my personal passion is wasted on even members of my own family, people I love but now clearly disagree with, it won't be a waste if even one person thinks a second time. If you are of retirement age and your only concern is lower taxes and the money you have worked your whole life to save for your retirement, I understand your motivations, but in 20-30 years your own grandchildren will be living on a dying planet unless you also care about climate change and environmental protection. Without a living wage they may never be able to afford to live independently, without affordable education they will never be able to reach their full potential, and without ongoing reform to the Health Care system, they may not even have access to the mental health care that too many of them already need.

This is not merely about American politics, this is about what we owe future generations. This is Erik Erikson's 'Generativity versus Stagnation' in a nutshell. As a nurse, I have been a student of Psychology for many years, Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Stages has made a large impact on me. According to Erikson, the seventh stage of development is about the virtue of Care. You either start to give back to the world and care about it's future, making it a better place, or you fail to find a way to contribute, withdraw, and likely disconnect from society as a whole. Future generations would ask for this if only they knew the facts, facts we feel are too disturbing to burden children with because they are too bleak. I hope you care enough about your own children and grandchildren to do the best you possibly can, in whatever way you find most meaningful, because that is the only way we as a society can move forward. I hold no ill will against anyone who wishes to unfriend me or block me, disagree with me or mock me, it's not my child you have to explain your action [or inaction] to, it is your own. Let's do it for them, our kids have no vote before the age of majority, so we must vote with them in mind.