There must be something bigger
Something more
An undeniable truth
The essence of existence flowing through us all
Some have called it God
A fiction of embodyment
They worship rather than respect
And decay in servitude
If one day we could learn
To tolerate our brothers
Accepting amongst others
The need for variation
We may allow ourselves
To embrace evolution
To salute new solutions
With no threat of retribution
We might tolerate ourselves

All I ask is just the chance
To make myself a better man

There are people now who want to ban the HPV vaccine. I am not embarrassed to say that I have only had sex with two people. One was not consensual and the other is my husband. I was diagnosed with cervical cancer, which is why the incident below happened to me. My mother also had cervical cancer that spread throughout her reproductive organs and almost killed her. She had chemotherapy, radiation, and eventually a full hysterectomy. I remember her getting upset when I took one of her wigs to school for Halloween. I didn't know until I got older just how sick she was. Did either of us deserve to die?

I resent this being turned into just another Christian moralizing issue. So that my daughters, and yours, never have to go through what I did, I will fight with my last breath to have this vaccine made available in the United States. Don't let the religious fundamentalists push you around any more. They have no right to fool around with our lives and the lives of our children. I'll take that one step further, they don't have the right to put their own children's lives at risk either. The following is my horror story because of cervical cancer. It is why I feel as strongly as I do. If you are easily sickened by graphic depictions of medical proceedures, then go no further.

I'll tell you a horror story. I had cancer and had to have a portion of my cervix removed because the cancer was localized. The next night I started bleeding so heavily that I had to stand in the shower so my floor wouldn't be soaked. My husband took me to the ER and they said I was probably having a miscarriage. They dismissed me and sent me home.

This was originally posted on FSTDT, but I like it and wanted to save it to a blog. I feel very strongly about this group (T4C) and groups like it.

Last night, I put on some music (surely satanic) and went on over to Teens-4-Christ to read. The thread "Women Working Outside the Home" caught my eye in the "Q&A" section. Some of the girls are having a hard time accepting the dogma. I remember the feeling when my teacher laughed at me and told me I couldn't be president because I was a girl! Then I imagined all those girls at their computers feeling the same when Brother Randy tells them they can't work if they have a family and if they do they are just greedy. I think of the tears in their eyes when they realize that they are under their father and then under their husbands.

The conclusion to the OP-ED article from Free Inquiry.

The second page to the OP_ED article from the latest (vol. 27 no. 1) issue of Free Inquiry.

This is an OP-ED from Tom Flynn in the latest issue of Free Inquiry.  Must reading for all Rational Responders.