The OpEd page of the WSJ hosts a column today by William McGurn lamenting the culture war and how gay activists won't passively accept the majority decision to revoke the right to gay marriage through Prop. 8.
He says
We've had the burning of the Book of Mormon. The mailing of envelopes filled with white powder to Mormon temples. And activists marching on Mormon churches with signs and shouts of "hate" and "bigot" directed at anyone who might have a difference of opinion.
In modern America, of course, these acts all come under the banner of "tolerance."
He also says
What we have in America is less a culture war than a constitutional war. And if we could just straighten out the latter, we'd go a long way toward diffusing the former.
I suppose this all falls under an attempt to frame serious constitutional questions as a less-weighty "cultural war", one that even conflicts with the constitution.
Anyhow, I sent him what I hope is a well-reasoned email. Here it is...
Dear Mr. McGurn,
You write that activists marching on the Mormon Church with signs and shouts of "Hate" and "Bigot" come, in modern America, under the banner of "tolerance." Are you suggesting that in old America, such speech would not be tolerated? I think some of the things that activists have done recently are misguided (I am no fan of violence or threatened violence by friend or foes of issues such as gay marriage and abortion) but the signs you mention, in modern America, fall under the banner of "free speech" - a time-honored, constitutionally protected right.
You also write of a constitutional war. In this case, the war is not about "majority rule," but about democracy's greatest value - that of protecting the rights of a minority. The concept of "majority rule" taking away the rights of a minority are antithetical to the concept of democracy. One of the great strengths of democracy is that of protecting the rights of all. The majority of voters should be prohibited from taking away the rights of gay people, just as allowing the majority to prohibit inter-racial marriage should be unthinkable.
Lest this all seem abstract, I would like an opponent of gay marriage to meet two friends of my daughter (both about ten years old). Those girls, daughters of gay parents, have been distraught since proposition eight passed, as their families have now been declared non-existant or second-class by anti-gay voters in California. Could someone please explain to them how they should feel good about themselves and their families in this now seemingly-hostile world? They, and I am sure thousands of other children in California, now being raised in strong families with same-gender parents must now reconcile this message of intolerance by the majority with the love and support their family and their community provides.
Sincerely,
...