What liberty is

Personal liberty, something that everyone is born with. It's an inalienable right that is more important than any other. The freedom to say what you will without fear of persecution, to practice any or no religion, and to live a lifestyle according to your wants and needs. As simple of an idea as it sounds, liberty is much harder for people to accept than most people realize. Any time something comes along that is deemed "strange" or "immoral" by society is stopped by a series of laws used to try to stamp out the behavior of the "odd individual." While most people aren't bothered by the actions of others, some people are. Enough are to crush the liberties of the individual they are opposed to. The United States had a principle base in the idea that all men are created equal, and that freedom of expression is key in a healthy and developed society. This idea is being slowly eroded by Congress as a way to either distract people from real issues or stamp out what is deemed as "weird," though often enough these laws usually never make it past the house or senate floor, and some get reversed.

The immoral act of trying to deprive people of their identity touches on many levels. Homosexuality is one of these issues. In the United States, a person can't join the military if he or she is an open homosexual, this is wrong regardless of whether you agree with homosexuality or not. A persons lifestyle, whether they were born that way or it was a choice, is none of the business of people who aren't physically or emotionally harmed by these actions. A person who is homosexual isn't the concern of another individual, and no one should be bothered by the lifestyle of another person. Some people say, "Homosexuality is a choice, therefore it is wrong," or, "it's unnatural and god doesn't like it." Whether or not there is any truth to these statements is irrelevant, the important part is that even if it was a choice it doesn't affect anyone other than the person who lives that life and the people who live that life with the person. The United States was built on the idea that all people should be able to live their lives with the choices they make anyways, so it's no concern of another individual.

In certain states there are also laws that try to ban certain sexual practices that people do. Until 2003, for example, there was a law in Texas prohibiting sodomy. In several states, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia and Washington D.C., it is illegal to perform oral sex on another individual. There are several other similar laws on the books in several other states, though most of them are never really put into practice, it shows how far some people are willing to go to interfere with the lives of others. Simply put, what happens in the bedroom of consenting adults isn't the business of anyone else. Unless the sex acts are used to intentionally harm another individual or to have sex with a minor, they shouldn't be illegal.

Most importantly, liberty is being able to say what you want and practice any religion you want. If a business such as Target wants to say "Merry Christmas" as opposed to "Happy Holidays," then it's solely the business of Target, it's employees, the people that shop there, and no other. If a person has that big of an issue with something like that, they always have the choice to go somewhere else that doesn't. People should be free to practice any faith openly, even if it is the majority religion, provided it doesn't tread on the rights of another human being.

Being able to say what you want without fear is equally important. There are words in the US that aren't allowed on television either. There's an unfounded outcry that children hearing these words will somehow corrupt them and harm them, despite the fact that these so called "awful" words only truly have as much power as humans give them. The US constitution strictly prohibits any laws being passed by congress that limit free speech, yet there is an FCC that tells people what they can and can not say. Not only did congress pass a law limiting free speech, but the unconstitutional law is also funded by the tax payer, meaning the US citizen has to pay in the literal sense to have our personal liberties limited. In order for a healthy and happy society to truly develop and prosper, the people need to be as free as possible to express themselves however they see fit.