I tried e-mailing the following post five days ago, but as you can see it never arrived. So here it is, copied and pasted unabridged...
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My country is teetering on the edge of history. A bill legalizing same-sex marriage is going through the House of Commons right now, and if it passes it will make Canada only the third country in the world to do so, after Belgium and the Netherlands. There are many forces at work trying to keep us firmly entrenched in the past, but this is the 21st Century and we need marriage laws that reflect that. The last time I was extremely proud of my nation was when we refused to go to Iraq. If this law passes, I'll be feeling that kind of pride again.
I am getting somewhat tired of hearing that this needs to be put up for a referendum, let the people decide! Screw the people. This isn't an absolute democracy. There is no such thing. As it's been said before, a democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for lunch. Minority rights aren't subject to the whims and prejudices of the majority. Any country that has it any other way isn't worth living in.
Many conservative religious groups are fighting tooth and nail to ensure this law doesn't happen. And except for the Conservative Party itself, it's only religious groups fighting this, and the Tories appear to be doing it themselves out of either religious principles or to appease their religious constituents. Anyone who values a secular society and the separation of church and state should find this utterly appalling. Of course anyone who values minority rights should find this appalling as well. The thing is, many of the religions joining in on this are minorities themselves, and should be careful. Are you Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu? Sorry, the head of the household is Jesus, so if you don't have Christ in your marriage it's not a real marriage so it too shouldn't be legal! An exaggeration? Maybe. But there is a very good reason religion needs to stay out of government and the ONLY reasons to ban same-sex marriages are religious.
I know, there is the "argument" that same-sex unions somehow "threaten" marriage as an institution, but it's never been explained exactly how. I'm not married, but if I was I don't see how anyone else's wedded bliss is a threat to mine. Are Christians suddenly going to start fornicating like there's no tomorrow because those damned gays and lesbians have ruined marriage for them? I think not. They just keep spewing the same bullshit over and over and people keep repeating it without thinking about exactly what it is they're saying.
The only possible threat I can think of is that if same-sex marriage leads to increased tolerance and, oh heaven forbid, acceptance of homosexuals, then few closeted gays and lesbians will feel pressured into heterosexual shams of marriages as a way of hiding who they really are. The shame in not pressuring closeted homosexuals into marrying unsuspecting spouses they don't feel the level of affection one should have for one's spouse!
The bigger threat homosexuals have isn't towards The Family (I need to capitalize it, the way conservatives have co-opted the term and made "pro-family" mean "pro-hate"). No, the bigger threat they have is to religion itself. That's why despite all evidence to the contrary and to simple logic itself, they keep insisting that sexual orientation is a choice. They need it to be a choice. Their religious texts tell them that anything other than a man/woman coupling is horribly wrong, and so if homosexuals are born gay and not just sick people who choose their perversion, then God is a real friggin' asshole.
This is something we need to understand when we're dealing with homophobes, and yes, "homophobe" is the correct term because there is a lot of fear involved and most of the arguments I've ever heard have been fear-based. Homosexuality being natural wouldn't just overturn one little bit of science but entire world views. Heck, it's the same problem with evolution, but Leviticus doesn't call evolutionists "abominations". What kind of loving God would make people gay then condemn then for it? I don't blame them for being terrified of homosexuality being natural.
Evolution has been proven to the point that no reasonable, decently educated person can refute it (the only thing really in question is how it happens), and I know I've used it when arguing in favour of atheism. If Genesis isn't literal, how can anything else in the Bible be taken literally? See? That's why fundamentalists hate evolution, and that's why so much emphasis is put on homosexuality. If gays are born gay, what kind of loving deity would condemn them for it? No loving god would, and so if gays are born gay, and the Bible says that they are an abomination, either the Bible is false or God is, as I've already stated, an asshole. That would mean that people have wasted entire lives and destroyed entire cultures spreading the word of an asshole.
So there you go. Remember all of this when dealing with conservative Christians, or conservatives of other religions. Sure it's frustrating presenting evidence and logic and have it ignored or called into question, but accepting it would be too much for many people's sense of self and of the world. I'll keep my fingers crossed that my government won't cave to these people but do what any secular government has to do, protect the rights of minorities. If they don't, one of us may be next.
posted
by Tabby at 2/06/2005 08:09:00 a.m.
