No On 8
Today's the day the State Supreme Court hears arguments for and against Proposition 8, the proposition that denies human beings the right to marry. NPR ran a feature this morning about the protests that arose after Prop 8 passed, specifically the protests that targeted individuals and businesses that donated to the Yes on 8 cause.
Granted, some protests might have gone over the line, and vitriol is rarely helpful. Nevertheless, there is a strange sanctimony or unwillingness to be honest among the Yes on 8 supporters. A creamery owner in Sacramento was 'mystified' at protests at his business after he donated a large amount of money, saying he'd always had good relations with the gay and lesbian community. Frank Schubert, who ran the Yes On 8 campaign, says that the protests are targeting any one who gave money to Yes On 8, regardless of their stance on gay rights, and also that the protests are attacking people's freedom of religion.
First of all, you can't argue that a donation to Yes On 8 is not an attack on gay rights. The content of the proposition allows one group of humans a certain right, while denying that right to another group of humans. Don't hide your support behind arguments for the will of the electorate. That isn't relevant.
And the Anti-Prop 8 campaign is in no way an infringement of anyone's right to believe as they want, nor is it an infringement on their right to vote for or against particular ballot issues with anonymity. You are certainly free to believe that homosexuality is wrong; and you are certainly entitled to abstain from marrying a homosexual if you really don't want to.
But if you are going to give money to fund a campaign of this nature, and then if you are going to be upset when people find out what you did, then you need to have the courage of your convictions, and accept the fact that your actions are causing pain to friends, neighbors, family members. You need to accept that there is no love or compassion in your actions.
If you can accept that what you are doing is going to have consequences, and that there are going to be people who do not care much for you as a human being, then god bless you. Just don't play the innocent in this case. You are on a slippery slope of separate but equal that we have hiked before.
Granted, some protests might have gone over the line, and vitriol is rarely helpful. Nevertheless, there is a strange sanctimony or unwillingness to be honest among the Yes on 8 supporters. A creamery owner in Sacramento was 'mystified' at protests at his business after he donated a large amount of money, saying he'd always had good relations with the gay and lesbian community. Frank Schubert, who ran the Yes On 8 campaign, says that the protests are targeting any one who gave money to Yes On 8, regardless of their stance on gay rights, and also that the protests are attacking people's freedom of religion.
First of all, you can't argue that a donation to Yes On 8 is not an attack on gay rights. The content of the proposition allows one group of humans a certain right, while denying that right to another group of humans. Don't hide your support behind arguments for the will of the electorate. That isn't relevant.
And the Anti-Prop 8 campaign is in no way an infringement of anyone's right to believe as they want, nor is it an infringement on their right to vote for or against particular ballot issues with anonymity. You are certainly free to believe that homosexuality is wrong; and you are certainly entitled to abstain from marrying a homosexual if you really don't want to.
But if you are going to give money to fund a campaign of this nature, and then if you are going to be upset when people find out what you did, then you need to have the courage of your convictions, and accept the fact that your actions are causing pain to friends, neighbors, family members. You need to accept that there is no love or compassion in your actions.
If you can accept that what you are doing is going to have consequences, and that there are going to be people who do not care much for you as a human being, then god bless you. Just don't play the innocent in this case. You are on a slippery slope of separate but equal that we have hiked before.
Labels: freedom of religion, gay marriage, Proposition 8, religion
posted by Devin at 10:13 PM
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