Anonymity

The Sad Necessity of Anonymity, from Xavier.

The only thing I see wrong with the picture is she’s certainly violating rule #2 and thus rule #1 (doesn’t seem to be violating #3 and #4 is arguable). 

One reason I debated having a blog is because I know how people can be. Xavier hits it on the head about why many gun bloggers blog anonymously. The sad thing is, it’s out of fear — a justified fear, but a fear nonetheless.

I have opted to not live in that fear and make it clear who I am. If I’m going to say something, I’m going to stand behind my words and stand up for myself. Might it get me in trouble? It might. Might I piss some people off? I might. Might some people be “shocked” to hear such things from me, thinking they knew me? They might. Might I lose some friends, I might. But go ahead and judge me, I can’t stop you. All I can do is continue to be me. Be honest, have integrity, be patient, be devoted. If I suffer for my actions, I just have to have faith that it’s all for a greater good. And the best I can hope for is that folks would be willing to engage me in discourse and at least make an informed choice instead of an ignorant snap judgment.

Freedom defined

From Ron Paul:

Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference. Government cannot create a world without risks, nor would we really wish to live in such a fictional place. Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal, because it would require total state control over its citizens’ lives. Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons.