Country Time
Please Keep Politics Out Of My Country Music!
By: Matt Bjorke
Last updated June 4th , 2010

It feels a little strange for me to be writing this column on Memorial Day in the USA (May 31, 2010), a day that is supposed to be reserved to give thanks to the brave men and women who have given life and limbs for me to be able to speak and write what I'm about to write.  Yet, here I am compelled to stand up and discuss why petty arguments on country music websites and message boards about politics, religion and turn me off.  Even if the discussion starts off civilized, it quickly disintegrates into an 'us vs. them' argument that also quickly turns uber-political and - for some wacky reason - explanations for a soldier's "motivation" for fighting for their country is brought up.

As a defense mechanism, anytime yelling happens (even virtual yelling on message boards and threads on the internet), I recoil.  I feel like I'm Rodney King and say "Why can't we all get along?"  Then I go further and agree with John Lennon about "Giving Peace a Chance" and agree with the sentiments of Garth Brooks' 1992 hit "We Shall Be Free;"

"When we're free to love anyone we choose, when the world's big enough for all different views, when we're free to worship from our own kind of pews, we shall be free."

But perhaps that's the problem.  There will always to be somebody who won't agree to disagree and who believes their opinion matters more than that of their neighbor.  It's why there were Jim Crow laws, it's why women fought for the right to vote and equality, it's why there's so much debate about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the military.  People just seem to like to argue and like to argue loudly.  

Even if I don't like this arguing or the tone of it, the soldiers are fighting for the right for it to take place. They're fighting for what the country stands for.  They're fighting because they love America.  They're fighting for a gazillion reasons and it's not my place - or yours - to say why a soldier chooses to fight for your rights to argue or buy a car or whatever inalienable right you can imagine, even ones you or I may disagree with.  

The world can be a cold and dreary place if you let all the bad news get to you.  This is one reason why I choose to get into the entertainment industry.  This job allows me to be in my own little bubble where I don't have to let bad news get to me - or get political - one way or another. 
 
Yes, I know the Garth Brooks and John Lennon songs referenced above are "political" but the motivation behind these songs doesn't feel hurtful or mean-spirited.  They instead they invite civilized discussion and never try to question anyone's motivations for doing anything, particularly a soldier's motivations for fighting to protect their country.

That's how I choose to live and I believe we all should live.  We should respect our neighbors and respect their opinions without getting angry at them and most of all, we should respect and be thankful for our soldiers who do put everything on the line for our rights to live the way we do in the United States of America.

[Tags] Country

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