Petitions, Causes and the Collective Movement of Change

I taught English at University and post-secondary level, and although it did cringe a little at the vernacular of this petition, my mission is to stop the hate, put an end to the bullying, and save the lives of as many teens as possible. I write, blog, post, read, research and spend so much time on this thing called the "social network" that it almost has possessed me. However, I not only signed the petition, which asks you to sign up with the option to receive more information as it becomes available, but just like almost every other source of good, dependable information for all of us (instead of trusting every source on the internet), I posted this petition on my blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts in the hopes that it would push more people to get off their apathetic butts and actually feel the time is right to make their voices be known.

Yes I agree that the wording, emphatic caps and sentence structure are all off the chart - the passion, coupled with the fact that someone took the initiative to do something about this very serious issue in the lives of the LGBTQ community and those who are discriminated against and thought of as being lesser persons far outweighs my need to spend time tearing down this author. I would rather, even through misspelled words and terrible sentence structure, help save one more life and be proud to say that I have had a part in ending the bullying and hate. I too was bullied in school and even in my later life now as an adult. I understand how passionate this person is and chose to overlook these infractions and put my force behind the thought. Please, I encourage people not to waste time tearing apart a persons passion for a good cause, but to throw their enthusiasm into supporting that passion and help put an end to the bullying and loss of teenagers as a result of it. One of those kids might just be your own. One final thought...how many causes, petitions or change.org actions have you already supported that only may have contained one or two errors in the wording, but you felt strong enough to sign anyway. It is not the counting of errors that we should focus on but rather the end result. That is when change happens, that is when lives are saved. My thanks to the author of this and every other person who starts a cause or petition to save a life. I would ask you this: what more nobler thing is there one can do than effect change and save lives?According to the Bible, the answer would be to give your own instead. Be passionate, spell words wrong if that is what it takes, help rewrite a petition, but for the sake of the "cause", please get involved and put aside your need to criticize. That is when you become part of a larger action and help effect positive change. Thanks to those who sign these petitions and causes; to others, please, please overlook the obvious and believe, if it makes sense to you internally, in the validity, or lack thereof, of these causes and go with your heart. It will make a world of difference you probably don't even know.

I firmly believe that a part of the "dumbing down" of Americans is directly related to the rise in poverty, lower education levels achieved in our grade schools, and the lack of higher education being available at an affordable price for those who choose (or can afford) to go on to achieve a higher degree. Much of what we are seeing now in the Republican agenda is the push to cut education costs, de-fund college tuition assistance and generally speaking, make us all just a little less questioning of the overlords who truly rule this country. This serves their purpose well and is, in my estimation, the major reason that this country is in the position we are now. Current statistics estimate that 1 in 4 Americans possess level 1 literacy skills (the lowest so far.) That translates into a staggering 44 million Americans that can not read or write at even the most basic of levels. Bringing that thought back around to the subject, this is the reason that, while I cringe when I see poorly written language as is the subject of all this commenting - I have to look away and look beyond the obvious and determine the true meaning of the author's intent. In this case I firmly believe that this is a good cause, one the author is passionate about, and I am not in a position to question their background but rather, will this further the cause of ending hate, LGBTQ bullying, and change the collective mindset of a society that is heading down a dangerous path.

I hope in the process that I didn't commit too many grammatical errors so as to turn anyone away from seeing the tree in the forest.

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