For liberty and justice for all...

Really? Is that what this country is saying these days? Our country says that we have liberty, justice, right to pursue happiness and equal rights. Do we? This is a coutnry where gay couples cannot get married, gay people cannot join the military and millions of people are without homes, health care, families or justice or liberty. So why then, do we have the audacity to stand up every morning in thousands of schools to say the Pledge Allegiance? Do we truly have the right to pursue happiness? Or do we just give it lip service?

So many millions of children are homeless, impoverished, so many more are denied simple things like healthcare simply because they are underweight. So many men and women do not get an education because they have to work to support their families. Young women are subject to media, encouraged to keep their weight down by taking drastic measures, and when they can't... They are made fun of, shunned and hurt and often commit suicide. Girls are getting pregnant earlier, throwing their lives away simply because they want love, just because they watch T.V. Shows with women who are in love and happy and have babies.

Men and women in uniform are being sent to foreign countries to fight for other people while in America, our rights are forgotten.

Elderly peoples are mistreated, abused and neglected in nursing homes and everywhere. Animals are not much better.

Education in schools is declining. Lots of schools have computers and a lot don't. A lot of schools need new books or just books in general.

On top of this, racism runs rampant. Sexism and general bigotry.

As a female, as an Atheist (Not Religious, No God/ess or deity or beliefs whatsoever.) I can say that it is hard to go to school some days. When you know people will make fun of you because you don't believe you are going to go anywhere when you die. When you don't put your hand over your heart for the Pledge, because your heart just isn't in it, because you know, with every bone, that this country has little liberty, little justice, and ignores our rights. Like the right to pursue happiness.

So why? Why? Why Do we pretend, blindly following like sheep, that America, The Home of the Free and The Land of the Brave, is a perfect country? When millions of people are denied simple rights, simple things? When people are hurt by others? When our own country lies, right to our faces.

Is this really The Home of the Free? Where gay couples are still not allowed marriage? Is it really The Land of the Brave when people are afraid to leave their homes because of gangs and other violence?

I say no.

So why do so many still say yes?