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I am an oddball because I have never lived in a concrete world
My entire life has been super-saturated and over-inflated with magical realism, with there being zero conflict between intellectualism, science, logic, the big bang, the ever-expanding Universe, the symphony of science, and the literal existence of a living God, a spiritual reality, life before and after death, and everything and anything in-between.
So, I am an oddball, someone who grew up watching Cosmos with Carl Sagan and NOVA on PBS and reading about relativity and being obsessed with Albert Einstein and knowing the taxonomic ranks of the animals of the world, recognizing that Hawaii, where I am from, Oahu, Honolulu, is both a global epicenter of science, technology, astronomy, marine science, anthropology, and whatnot, while still being a magical island that has never just given lip service to the reality of ghosts, gods, spirits, channeling, palm-reading, worship, respect for Madame Pele, our Goddess of Fire, and also respecting our God Maui, the god of the wind and sea. All these things live together. So, it's really hard for me to ever really choose the kind of sides that ever dismiss anyone's lifestyle, anyone's beliefs, including third gender Hawaiians and the entire spectrum of people—including society's most terrible.
As long as they don't impinge on other people's liberties, rights, and lifestyles. To the point where I would fight for the right of Nazis to be able to have a parade down Main Street—that's what the First Amendment is all about, to me. Though, in 2020, it seems like I am alone in this.
