On Prop 8

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, I think it is official: I have failed at NaBloPoMo. I will do it as much as I can, but alas, not every day. Anyway, this is something that I have found interesting in the news since the election. It has gotten about as much attention as the new president. And this is, of course, the passing of Proposition 8. Not just the passing of Prop. 8, but the protests that have followed. There was a massive protest outside of the LDS Temple yesterday, for their role in the passing of this. I found a story online here, but I did not put it up on this blog due to copyright requests. However, I do have a copy of the LDS church's statement regarding the protests:

---

It is disturbing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election.

Members of the Church in California and millions of others from every faith, ethnicity and political affiliation who voted for Proposition 8 exercised the most sacrosanct and individual rights in the United States – that of free expression and voting.

While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.

Once again, we call on those involved in the debate over same sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information.

---

Yes, I am for gay marriage. No, I am not gay. The reason I am for this is because I believe it is a rights issue (and they are being denied unfairly), and I have yet to hear a convincing argument otherwise. The only arguments I have heard that are logical at all are religious ones, and last I checked we do not enforce religion by law here in America. It's just part who we are; you know- the whole "Separation of Church and State" thing? Remember that? And the fact that we have an ideal here that people can live free without religious persecution. Just the silly little fine print that makes us the great nation that we are. So if the only "logical" arguments that I have heard against gay marriage are religious, then why is it illegal? Granted, there are other reasons that are not religious in nature, but those problems can be solved without denying rights to others.

As far as the statements above in the article go, I disagree. It is absolutely appropriate to go to your "sacred places of worship" and protest, because your involvement in this issue invades the homes and lives of private citizens and their private and personal lifestyle choices, and if that is not sacred to you, then why should your "sacred places of worship" be off limits to us? And, yes, whatever rights you have in a democratic free election I respect, and the right to express your views I respect, your freedom of speech I respect, but that does not mean you do not have to answer for them- especially as an organization.

Some are calling for a complete boycott of the state of Utah. That is a little over the top, because as you can see there are plenty of other people here that are on the other side of the argument, and 'punishing' them is not sane at all, even though about half of the financial support for ProtectMarrage.com came from Utah.

I do also agree that it is unfair to single out the LDS church on their involvement on this, as any protests should include everyone involved. Here is a short list of them (just to be fair): The Roman Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the LDS Church, and various other evangelical Christians. Other organizations include, but not limited to: American Family Association and Focus on Family. That is of course, if you want to protest or boycott or do anything else of the like (peaceful please. Make your voice heard, not felt).

Sadly, I do not think that protests are not going to do any good, no matter how many of them are picketed and chanted at. The fact of the matter is, that most churches believe that homosexuality is a sin, and not a lot, if nothing, will change their mind. I am not against their preaching of that. They can say to their followers what ever they choose, and the followers can believe whatever they choose, and I will not hold that against them for believing that certain "activities" are wrong, unhealthy or immoral. But pushing that on others who do not follow that creed by any sort of law is absurd to me. I look at it like this: if you love someone and want to spend the rest of your life with them I have no problem with that. If they want to enjoy the legal benefits that come with marriage, I have no problem with that. I just don't like to see a couple who love each other very much denied rights and other privileges because of what is between their legs.

So protest, shout, picket (or in my case blog) if you must. Because the only thing that is going to change this is time. People will not stand for injustice long. That is another thing that makes our nation great, and I have full confidence that we will go the other direction in time. But if there is one message I would like to get across here, it that we need to be tolerant of other people. And remember: it's tolerance, not approval. Let others be as they will, as long as it is not causing you any harm.

T