It's just recently hit the wires and tubes that Connecticut is now the third state to allow same sex couples to be equally recognized under the state constitution.
First off, good for CT! With Cali's ruling in danger of getting a state congressional repeal, it's good the fight is still being fought.
Neither candidate nor their running mates support same sex marriages but 0bamiden does support civil unions and I believe that's important, but it's not going to be enough. Why? Because the country is still being run by and populated with those who believe "marriage" is between a man and a woman. And you know what? That's fine. Believe it, teach it to your kids, practice it, silently admonish others in your own house. I believe prisoners should be sent to the front lines of combat instead of college age kids. I believe the money we spend collectively on advertising and entertainment could, in one year, be funneled into a Globe Foundation that will both find a vaccine for cancer and AIDS AND distribute relief to areas of the world that need it AND solve our renewable energy problem. (Tag line would be, "Suspend your wants for our needs" and OUR would have the globe as the O. Eh? Eh?) I believe that there should be mass transit in every city over 500,000 people to such a degree that even if you had a car you couldn't drive it into the downtown or urban centers. It'd be all sidewalks and trains. And yet some how, these beliefs only impact my brain. I may talk about them with people but they're just MY beliefs, not yours. The slippery slope we run into is we want to live in a world where society is just and fair. We want bad people to be punished and good people to be rewarded. We want children to thrive and old people respected. The problem is, it all comes from which book you read. Our just and fair belief structure comes from religion and not a logical set of rules. And because everyone believes different things, those rules are going to break and be rewritten.
Think about it for a second and let's imagine there's a gargantuan religious society. In this religion there was a prophet who told his followers, say, 4,000 years ago that to eat the fruit from a tomato plant was sinful and wrong. There's something evil about tomatoes, they're used like a vegetable but are classified as a fruit. Pick a side! Over the years, this religion spread and many many people believed in it. So much so there were virtually no tomato growers and those that did plant them kept it quiet. Then this new country was formed and they used their belief system to create a set of rules. There's only a few hundred at first so everyone was in agreement. They all believed in not working on Sunday, being executed if you murdered someone and being hung till death for growing tomatoes. Over the years, as the society changed, people from different lands came into the country. They abided by all the laws as best they could and those that didn't were sent away or punished. Still, quietly and discretely, a group of farmers began growing tomatoes but not selling them. Theses farmers were from somewhere else so they didn't believe a tomato was bad, but wanting to stay within the rules they didn't tell anyone they grew them and had them.
More time passes until eventually this country is comprised of so many different people with so many different view points that things like tomato growing doesn't bother close to half of them. These farmers want to grow tomatoes just as they would corn and wheat, but the law says they can't. Why does the law say they can't? Because 4,000 years ago people were scared of/didn't understand that a tomato was different from other fruits and they were afraid that their god would punish them for eating it or even knowing people who ate it or grew it. Having faith in their beliefs dictated they eschew all things tomato, regardless of the logic because they were afraid of not knowing what happens to them after they die should their life have any tomato stains. The farmers don't believe in everyone else's afterlife and only want the right to grow whatever plants they want, they can't understand that why growing their own food impacts other people who aren't eating it anyway.
This might be a weak (and horrible elongated) metaphor for homosexuality but there are plenty of other stories, gospels, teachings from various holy books that didn't make it into 20th century American, French, Hindu, Shinto law - not because they were any less important to the people at the time, but because over time the people who followed these religions began to realize that it wasn't hurting them or their lives to allow other people to function this way. It always suprised me the most about Christianity's "love thy neighbor" and "live and let live" tenants that homosexuality was such a big deal. It seemed contradictory and hypcritical, which isn't surprising given who God is. If we're made in his image, and his words contradict themselves, it's no wonder we're messed up. But the point I'm trying to make is that something like "marriage" shouldn't be in the hands of the government any more than "football" should. "Marriage" shouldn't be in the hands of your elected officials any more than "Star Wars" should.
The other thing I wanted to bring up was this and I'll try to be brief. Government only recognizes a marriage between a man and a woman. Why? Because it's in the Bible. Ok. So you only recognize things from the Bible. What about handfasting? It's not in the Bible? If I know my Wiccan, it's not "the union of a man and a woman" it's "the joining of two souls." So, are Wiccan/Pagan marriages still legal under the law? There's no book guiding them to only be a man and woman, and it's not in the Bible. I know Pagans are a small subset of a fraction of a lesser group of a minor collection of people, but the premise still stands. Is it fair to legislate something that not all people believe? Majority rules, I agree, but are we still at the point in America where the majority of people believe that two ladies can't live together AND file taxes together AND adopt a child AND make sure that child can be put in a will AND (on and on.) Are the majority of people STILL in the belief that knowing your neighbors are gay is going to be any more detrimental that being in an abusive (but traditional) home?
Yes, the majority still believe that it is SO wrong that you have to make it a law because you can't KILL IT WITH FIRE! The majority would rather know that their daughter is marrying an alcoholic than another daughter. The majority sees nothing wrong with lying and cheating your way into the most coveted political post in the land, but will not vote for you if you believe in same sex marriage.
I'm not saying the majority is stupid...
Wait, yes I am. Grow up, majority.
No comments:
Post a Comment