There's only one way to solve our current crisis of conscience. Ban heterosexual marriage.
You scoff. No, seriously. I know, I've said this before. But I'm not kidding. We've made the institution of marriage a legal entity in this country, and then put strictures upon who gets to be married. We won't let people marry goldfish, dogs, turtles, or horses. We especially won't let them marry people of their own sex. Why? Because marriage is ostensibly a union under Christian church law.
Which brings me to my point - separation of church and state. Whatever happened to that? Oh, yeah, the Republican Party. Now gay marriage, once something to giggle about, is now a threat to the strength of the nation.
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Where did they go wrong? It's natural to assume that Republicans just want to cause trouble for the groups they dislike. Minorities, poor, homosexuals, the elderly, all seem to be under the blade when the Republicans are holding the knife. But in reality, they just want the world to be a better place. It's just that their solutions aren't working. This is what happens when you decide to legislate morality. Whose morality do you choose?
So now that the Democratic party is looking, possibly, maybe (don't jinx it!) at a Democratic majority in November, what will we do? Will we start legislating our morality?
But there are a few other relevant questions as well - Does anyone think that a Republican-held Senate, by whatever narrow margin, is going to take any positive steps towards marriage equality? Does anyone think that a Republican-held Senate will do ANYTHING AT ALL to halt further erosion of all of our rights? Not a chance. Another two years with these people in power is flatly unthinkable.
I read this from RenaF's diary, and it struck a chord with me. Most Republicans don't support marriage equality. Most Republicans don't support stem cell research. But some Democrats don't support stem cell research or marriage equality either. Can we safely say that having a Democratic majority will give us an opportunity to change the laws?
There's a "all or nothing" attitude that I encounter on a regular basis. Barack Obama made an impassioned speech about compromise some months ago, and everybody lambasted him for not sticking to his principles. How do you stick to your principles, anyway? By shouting down everybody who doesn't agree with you? If we take back the House and Senate in November, will we start legislating morality? Because honestly, if we're going to start making Democratic morals into actual law, we'd better start deciding which morals we want.
You can call me an optimist and delusional, but I see the Democratic Party as being about freedom of thought and religions. Just because I believe something doesn't mean that I'm going to force you to believe the same thing. I think that a Democratic majority in Congress will listen to the people, and give the people what they want.
You shout "But what if they want to ban gay marriage? What if they want to ban stem cell research? What if they want to nuke Iran?" Sorry, it's a democracy. Whatcha gonna do?
That's what democracy looks like: messy & unpredictable & sometimes slow & often heartbreaking & LOUD ... but man, it's a beautiful construct & we are lucky to have it. It is OURS.... We will not lie down and we will not go quietly. - SusanG
The New Jersey Supreme Court has made an important step. Homosexual couples deserve the same rights as heterosexual couples, and even more importantly, their children deserve the same rights as well. That is a moral decision that everybody except Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson can agree on. Now we need to find a way for couples of any orientation to form unions, join together financially, guarantee privacy rights for themselves, and ensure that their children get proper healthcare and education. Call it what you will.
I believe that the civil union is the best way to solve this crisis of conscience. And with marriage in the way, civil unions will be separate and unequal.