As an American Woman

There are places where women are beaten for learning to read, where men go to prison for proclaiming belief in God and children carry machine guns. There are places where no matter how hard you work, you are considered less than someone else, where education is for the select few and; daily limits accompany daily life. Do you live in one of these places?
God gave mankind free will but many live to impose restrictions on others. Innocent people throughout the world have had their freedoms taken away by corrupt and barbaric systems. Have you had your freedoms taken away?
As an American woman, I am free. I am free to learn; to choose my own religion and to work hard. As an American woman, I am not told what to say, who to marry, how many children to have or where to go during my day. If I want to, I can run through the front yard sprinklers in my bathing suit. I can dance wildly in public and talk about politics. I can shout when I am angry and stand strong beside a man.
As an American woman, I am used to the good life. Freedom is the norm and so I forget. Then I see the news or read a book about the third world. I remember how fortunate I am to live in a this country. Without choices, mankind can not exercise free will and as American citizens, we have choices.
We can stand up for what we believe and challenge others when we disagree. We can create wealth and destroy it, we can worship God and debate His existence, we can go to school and read whatever books we choose. Life is open for discussion.
Remember, there are places where the economy and foriegn policy aren't up for debate. There are places where children are sold into slavery by their own families and poverty is a life sentence. Whatever I face, I am fortunate to be an American woman.