Sex, politics and religion.

[skyring]

A post from an LJ friend put me onto this video comment.

I'll begin by saying what I said in a comment. My thoughts exactly, except that my thoughts are never that beautifully expressed.

"Spread happiness," the guy says. Spread happiness, love, joy and delight. I've got two gay friends who are married. It is one of the most romantic stories I've ever heard, how they found each other, lived together and were married as soon as it was legally possible. Like my hetero friends in every tiny frissom of joy, except for the "as soon as legally possible" part.

Like many other people, I was astonished when Proposition 8 passed in California.

California? The most liberal state in the union? How could this possibly happen?

And why? It makes no sense to me. In this slowly enlightening, slowly more tolerant world, how could people vote for a backwards step?

And yet, recently I've come out strongly in favour of the democratic right of the voters to vote any way they wish, for whatever reason they wish. It's one of the fundamental Lego blocks in my edifice of personal belief.

The voters can't get something wrong in a free and fair poll, where the issues are well known and widely discussed, because if they are wrong, then all of democracy is wrong, and if democracy is wrong, then I'm wrong. Bring on the dictators and the despots. The people I despise have got it right.

I'm torn, deeply torn, in trying to understand this.

But the commentator strongly hinted at a reason for voting against gay marriage, and that reason is organised religion. People put their religious beliefs above democracy. If the gods and the priests say something is wrong, then dammit, it must be wrong. Let's stick it to the godless infidels and vote them down.

It all comes back to the football team mentality I've mentioned earlier. If you support a particular football team, party or church, then that team is 100% correct. All the way. Sing the songs and wave the banners and pray that the other team and their misguided supporters get smitten down and lose the cup.

I've seen it countless times. People will explain away the misdeeds of one of their own, that they would vilify if it were one of the opposing team. In politics especially, you don't publicly criticise one of your own. Bend the truth, apply the spin, bring out the smoke and mirrors, but your guy is NEVER wrong. The Pope speaks no bull.

Me, I've been part of that rubbish, and I gave it up when I had to try to defend some absolutely bone-headed policies. I'm no good at putting spin on things I don't believe. That part of the game holds little attraction for me.

The party, the policies, the church and the priests, the team and the players - they can all be wrong. I'm not fool enough to believe that the universe is somehow backing me or anyone else up in every little thing.

So was Prop 8 right or wrong? Wrong in that it appalled me as a backwards step, a defeat for fairness and love. Right in that it was a free and fair vote and the people had their say.

I think we'll be seeing a campaign to reverse or repeal prop 8. I don't know how Californian constitutional practice works, but I'm sure that people are working together to get it done. And the answer lies in educating the voters.

Beginning with that piece of commentary mentioned above. Go click on the link. Send it to others. Spread happiness.

Comments

[strtmyorange.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I'm not sure where you're getting your information but it's not correct. As of November 5, 2008, 38 states either have amendments to their state constitutions or have voted to add such an amendment or have issued specific legal statutes to ban same-sex marriage and/or all same-sex unions. Forty states and their citizens did NOT vote to ban same-sex marriage. Some of these bans were explicitly the work of that state's legislature, without the input of the voters. Numerous states have passed laws allowing legal unions, conferring some or most or all of the legal rights on couples as those of marriage. Note that these states have NOT banned same-sex marriage. However, since the Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996, no act or agency of the USA federal government recognizes same-sex marriage, making all states laws irrelevant in matters such as Social Security benefits, veterans benefits, Medicare, family leave, immigration law, etc. Furthermore, your statements regarding Latino/Catholic/Muslim voters are incredibly off base. Sixty percent African-Americans, who came out in record numbers during this election, voted for the bans. Not immigrants, not Catholics, not Muslims. Actually, the Mormon Church donated MILLIONS of dollars to the California campaign "Yes on 8". As for the East Coast, Connecticut now allows same-sex marriage; Florida does not. Massachusetts has a very large Catholic population, completely contradicting your theory, as the state was one of the first to allow same-sex marriage. Nothing personal, but I do wish people would do more research before saying things that come off a bit xenophobic and that not completely correct.