The right 'rights' to fight for

So there's this post that's been going around on Facebook that I really can't ignore.  The post goes like this:


Don't like gay marriages? Don't get one... Don't like cigarettes? Don't smoke them... Don't like abortions? Don't get one... Don't like sex? Don't have it... Don't like drugs? Don't do them... Don't like porn? Don't look at it... Don't like alcohol? Don't drink it... Don't like your rights taken away, then don't take away someone else's.

This is my response:

The person that agrees with all of this is very skewed in their thinking as well.  With this kind of thinking, choices only affect the individual.  However, as life continues to prove, this is completely false.  Choices affect a number of people.  Take for instance the gay couple who got married.  They later adopt a child, but that child is at a disadvantage: they will never know the true relationship they could have had with a father and a mother.  They will always be missing out on one side.  The smoker may not care about their own health, but do they realize that their bad habit has caused the asthma afflicting their children?  Do they care enough for the health of their loved ones to stop?  And what about the father who's heart was broken when he found out he would never hold his baby girl because the mother got an abortion?  What about the couple who's unable to have children of their own, but desires to share their love with a child?  Instead of abortion, try adoption.  As for the sex issue, how many people have been forced to have sex when they didn't want to?  Where was the protection of their rights?  And think about the family who grieves the loss of their child because of how a drug addiction killed them.  How many women have been forced to become the objects of porn entertainment in order to scrape up a living?  Alcohol also affects many people.  Take for instance the child who is scared to go home to a drunk they call a parent because of the abuse they suffer.  Or the wife who must break apart a family because the husband doesn't care enough to put his family before the bottle.  Bottom line?  All choices deal with rights, the question is who's rights are being stomped upon, and who's rights are being given every benefit.  You may think your choice, your right, affects only you.  But stop and think about who's rights are being compromised so that you may fulfill yours.  What 'rights' would be better left behind so that life could be the prevailing victor?  What rights should be fought for?  I say we fight for the rights that protect the welfare of life, not the distruction of it.

Secrets

Will is my secret.  No one here knows him like I do; no one knows him at all.  He lives in England, or rather, he lived in England.  Here, he has no home, but the one I share with him.  His family was left behind, but we see them from time to time, saying sometimes for months.  Will often acts as a different person when in public here.  The clothes he wears are different, his attitude not as formal.  He acts as I have coached him, as though he has been Americanized.  When we are at his home, I too must act on his coaching.  My manner must be severely formal, and I must be careful in how I speak.  I must change my accent to match Will's, and use a story that is not my own.  Our worlds are completely separate, but with Will by my side, there is no where to call home than with him.  Between us, we have no secrets, but we must protect our secret from the rest of the world.  Will was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the year 1823.  I was born in Nebraska, in the year 1992.  We are able to travel randomly between Will's home and mine, but neither of our families know the truth of who we are, and who we have become.