In Alabama this weekend, a white, straight, conventionally attractive Christian couple braved persecution and judgment to get married—and the
Washington Post was
ON IT. Stephanie McCrummen
writes:
... three days after the U.S. Supreme Court legally bolstered same-sex marriage and at a time when a majority of Americans accept the idea, a wedding was underway among people who do not.
Okay ... is this supposed to surprise us? Does the
Post think its readers don't realize there are people who oppose marriage equality? Oh, but see, these are people who think their marriage is a special snowflake providing an example to the world of the love that God intended. At the rehearsal dinner, a slideshow showed:
Randy and A.J. in front of the sign for Wilsonville, where they would be getting married in less than 24 hours with the hope, Randy had said, of being “a light on the hill to people all over, showing the example of what we think true biblical marriage should be.”
Watching intently was Randy’s father, Ken Wilson. “We are almost a minority now,” he said as the evening went on, referring to those who continue to believe that marriage should be only between a man and a woman. “And it makes it all that much more important not to listen to those who would judge us. I know we may go through persecution as we evolve into this open-minded society. But I told my son, whatever you do, don’t worry about others judging you.”
It's not that they're judging anyone else, they say, they're just providing an example. Of a "God-written story" of the kind of love God approves. They're just standing up for their beliefs. Which are that "marriage is religious, and I want to keep my religious things sacred. I don’t know if that’s mean or not, but I don’t want my religious beliefs to be diluted—not by heterosexuals or homosexuals."
These people are really worried about being judged, but it seems to escape them that when you say other people's love dilutes your own religious beliefs, you're judging them. These may be sweet, kind people in all sorts of ways. I don't know them. But I know, because they told me via the pages of one of the country's major newspapers, that they do judge people not like them and that they are so sheltered they don't necessarily understand that's what they're doing.
So I don't judge their love for each other. I don't judge them as terrible people. But I think they have a lot to learn, I think there's an arrogance in believing that your love is so special as to be an example to the world—especially when that example excludes so many—and I hope that as the world keeps changing around them, they're able to do some of that learning rather than digging in and believing themselves persecuted.
What I definitely judge is the Washington Post for running this dreck and that groom for wearing khakis and black suspenders.