I was going to write about kos’s fine ‘two sentences’ diary last Thursday, but a letter to the editor of our local paper today turned me around on that. The letter-writer offered the thesis that there is ‘no biblical defense of gay marriage.’ It was written in response to a prior letter written by someone criticizing a local bigoted minister for a homophobic diatribe.
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I am not linking to it in this diary. It is available online, anyone wishing to view it in its original (it is pathologically unoriginal), send me a kosmail and I’ll link you. (It really isn't worth your time, though. You know the gist.) I just ask that you not repost the link in public comment threads. For the purpose of the diary, that person is irrelevant. He can’t be convinced, he can’t be ‘sold.’ He can’t be ‘reached,’ he can’t be given understanding, at least, in the short term. He has a harder time before him than all these people we love so, who are finally getting the rights they have deserved all their lives.
On Inauguration Day 2009 I wrote a diary celebrating President Obama’s stunning victory. I highlighted a song one of our very favorite folk singer-songwriters wrote in 1995. It is one of my favorite songs, entitled Crazy in Alabama, by Kate Campbell. She has lived in the South all her life, and, like me and so many others, she experienced the civil rights movement in great intensity.
In the chorus of her great song, she sang …
And the train of change
Was coming fast to my hometown
We had the choice to climb on board
Or get run down
It was crazy there were grown men fights
Over segregation and civil rights
Martin Luther King and the KKK
George C. Wallace and LBJ
And when the National Guard came in
I thought the world was gonna end
It was crazy in Alabama
Here is a video of my friend, Kate Campbell, performing this song. Be patient with her, she transposes two words late in the song, but it will convey her incredible creativity and heart all the same.
The train of change … we know it well. It is rolling again, to our delight, coming fast to our hometown - yes, even in places in the South. The choice that remains, Mr. RW Bigot, is to climb on board or get run down.
You can hide behind your Bible, you can read it selectively. Let’s look at one of your predictable, misguided, bigoted paragraphs.
Finally, he denigrates Rev. WhoGivesaF (obfuscation mine, B) for using reason as his argument against same-sex unions. Does the writer really believe that homosexuality is reasonable, normal or natural?
It is reasonable, normal and natural, absolutely. It exists, as my wise young friend
Chrislove can tell you, in MANY species. Those animals did not ‘choose’ it any more than I chose my sexual orientation. Any more than you chose yours. No matter what you choose to believe your Bible says, sexual orientation is utterly blame-neutral.
Next, you said:
This nation is quickly losing its moral compass. The proponents of this lifestyle, along with our president and many of the Hollywood elite, have done a good job convincing people that it’s OK. They will not rest until the very definition of marriage is redefined.
No nation has a 'moral compass.' Every nation does good things. Every nation does bad things. No nation is or will ever be ‘perfect,’ by ANY standard, no matter how capricious. The changes in our society are much better than okay, because a grave social injustice is finally in the process of being addressed. It is not finished, any more than it is with the civil rights struggle. But good progress has been made, and here is the ominous part, for you. This train isn’t going back. Not in your lifetime, not in the next generation’s, not in the ten generations after that. Because the train of freedom goes forward, and the train of bigotry backward. One has a future, the other does not. You can climb aboard, or - and this gives me no pleasure to say - be run down. History - and the hearts of our citizens - are against you.
As for the ‘definition of marriage,’ maybe no one has ever told you, but the definition of marriage is not sentient. It cannot be hurt, it cannot be offended, it cannot be insulted, it cannot be betrayed. In its way, marriage is redefined by every marital union, as each is unique, as each evolves in its own way, no matter who the parties are. It must be redefined anew in every case, and nothing can stop it. Nothing should stop it. Its potential should be as wide as the cosmos.
Today, thankfully, it is a little wider than it was before, and that’s a marvelous thing!
Finally, you challenge us to find a defense of marriage equality in the Bible. Our challenge to you is to cite passages in the Bible where it is suggested that the Bible should serve as an instrument to attack others, as a justification for inequality and discrimination. Where is that found?
You can’t tell me because it isn’t there.
There is one rule above all others, however: The Golden Rule.
And its guidelines in this are very clear.
Open your mind. Open your heart.
The train of change is marching through our home town.
You’ll find me applauding with all the passion within me, with all the love within me. And I counsel you to do the same.
On to tonight’s comments, formatted, mercifully, by my fine friend, brillig!
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything
without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do
not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
From JG in MD:
Excellent perspective & context for our freedom of religion and freedom from religion in the first amendment by NonnyO in Religious Freedom Frauds by Jon Parr.
From Wee Mama:
Where we need to focus with laser-like intensity in 2014, by jan4insight. With great graphics!
From Yours Truly, brillig:
Rich in PA asked a point of order question in kos' Democrats need women to vote, Hobby Lobby will deliver. MAN did kos answer.
Top Mojo for yesterday, June 29th, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary FAQing Top Mojo.
1) Thank you for what you do. by smileycreek — 143
2) I wonder how the anti-choice people would react by Lujane — 116
3) Oh Hai Whoknu! Somethings Iz Beyond Time... by leonard145b — 103
4) Glad your sister got what she needed. by Future Gazer — 97
5) Most anti-abortion people I've dialogued with... by billybush — 92
6) Anti sex for women. by ahumbleopinion — 81
7) I have pretty much come to the conclusion by Richard Lyon — 77
8) Sekritarmy change by arizonablue — 74
9) I am sorry that there was even an ER visit. by sideboth — 73
10) Thank you for this diary by Tara the Antisocial Social Worker — 68
11) I see the beginnings of a progressive movement by Dallasdoc — 66
12) Thank you so much for your comment. by paulex — 65
13) Psst, come with me by kerflooey — 62
14) Happy as a pig in... by kerflooey — 61
15) :o) by Pam from Calif — 61
16) I don't get it by Diogenes2008 — 61
17) Oh Hai Kossacks! Ur Sekritarmy Moment Of Zen... by leonard145b — 60
18) Three more views from the inside by Eddie C — 60
19) Top Comment by Puddytat — 58
20) This ruling really upsets me. by too many people — 57
21) Ready for a change by kerflooey — 57
22) I've been observing ISIS, etc. for almost three by InAntalya — 57
23) But he is very good at strategy. by InAntalya — 56
24) There's a small problem with your premise. by The grouch — 56
25) This is the story they want with everything by karmsy — 55
26) Ummm Yes! But Who Knew??? by leonard145b — 54
27) oh bullshit by wilderness voice — 54
28) Your point is valid, and I'm tired of by Youffraita — 53
29) Yes! The connection is slower by ExpatGirl — 52
30) Well 80% of Pubs think the poor have it easy... by Pixie5 — 51
31) We get trained in domestic violence as well. by sideboth — 51
Top Pictures for yesterday, June 29th. Click any image to be taken to the full comment. Thank you jotter for the image magic!