Don't speak and forever hold your peace

Today I've decided to write something a little more politically charged, but still close to my heart. In America, it is nothing new that we have the freedom of Speech, as protected by our Bill of Rights. I'm all for free speech, however, it is when that speech becomes violent, or contains hate towards our government that I have a hard time with. It is OK to disagree with government; I actually encourage that speech, it is when that speech is filled with dripping disdain and language that can invoke violence that I can't stand.

Why am I suddenly moved to write about it on this forum? It is not only from the language that I head after the congresswoman from Arizona was shot, which has been replaying over and over in my head and on national news media, it also stems from some comments I heard in class today about our president.

Today in class we were discussing the end times and the anti-christ when a girl behind me proclaimed to the class that President Obama is "the anti-christ". There was no joking tones or laughter to signify that it was all a jest, this girl was completely serious. It is speech like this that promotes hatred.

I am not an Obama supporter by any means, although there has been a few instances in which he has surprised me and I have agreed on some of his actions, and I am in fact a card-carrying conservative. I did not vote for this man; quite the opposite actually (I worked on John McCain's campaign), but when I hear speech towards the leader of our nation that is filled with so much slander and hate, it makes me sick.

I believe that in America, there is no place for language that puts down our politicians and causes a rift between political parties. What does hateful language solve? Instead of focusing on real issues and solutions, when there is unproductive language, America gets distracted with the rhetoric.

I'm not an activist, and I don't pretend to be a seasoned politician or political analyst, what I WILL be though is a concerned American that is extremely sickened by the political rhetoric in this nation from all sides of the political spectrum.