(1/?) I get comments about having strong opinions/beliefs all the time. So here’s a thread:

I was raised in an incredibly conservative Christian middle-class family. My dad is an ex-army ranger. From as young as second grade, what I can only refer to now as “propaganda”

(2/?) was taught to me by my family members. I told my entire second grade class that they shouldn’t support Al Gore because he kills babies (that is literally how my parents described ABORTION to a SECOND GRADER). For most of my life I held extremely conservative views because

(3/?)that is what I was taught and what was instilled in me from a young age. I knew no better (because I didn’t TRY to know better, out of a place of privilege) and didn’t take the time to form my own thoughts. Even throughout college I maintained my conservative views, because

(4/?)I never TRIED to look outside of myself. It wasn’t until almost 3 years ago on July 29 that I began to question everything.

My first love died from a drug-overdose. In the moments after his death I started paying close attention to the rhetoric used to describe those

(5/?)with addiction. I found more frequently than not, those that called themselves conservatives-a group I considered myself to be a part of- were framing addicts as losers, low-lifes and criminals. This hurt me deeply. Hunter was such a complex human that only wanted to love

(6/?)and be loved, and he unfortunately had a disease. He wanted to get better, but his addiction had completely taken him over. I would have given anything to take even an ounce of his pain away from him. He was not some sort of monster because he had an addiction…the addiction

(7/?)was the monster, swallowing up one of the best people I knew whole.

At some point it occurred to me: how much am I overlooking simply because I haven’t experienced certain things directly? and that is when my views completely shifted about EVERYTHING. Having the traumatic

(8/?)experience of someone you love pass away and then seeing people like him be framed as monsters made me question just how many people were being framed the same way due to things out of their control. That woman that wants to have an abortion because she already has 3 kids

(9/?)and has suddenly found herself pregnant once again from her abusive husband? Not a monster. That homeless man asking for money on the corner that you call lazy because his mental illness has caused him to be unable to keep a job after his wife’s death? Not a monster. Your

(10/?)child who has decided to transition because who he was born as biologically does not match how he feels mentally? Not a monster.

(11/11)The fact that caring for other humans has somehow turned into a polarizing political stance tells you everything you know about where society is as a whole. Because at the end of the day…people are real, money is not.