Long time, nothing to say. But I am inspired by our President. Mr Obama, believe it or not.
Let us look at one of the more vexing "political" issues that we have on our plate: Same Sex Marriage.
I cannot believe how powerful an issue this has become. A small percentage of our population is into having sex with members of their own sex. This is not new. Greek armies thousands of years ago paired up gay men to go to battle in the belief that they would have a better affinity for their battle partner. And it remains a small percentage of our population. It is not a "learned" thing. And it is not exclusively a human thing. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_displaying_homosexual_behavior.
So how did it become such a big issue?
I can think of several factors such as: I personally get the creepy crawlies thinking about kissing another man, so I am not surprised that many others get the same feelings. There are the bible thumpers who read the Bible as if it were the last word even though it is really a story told by a father to a son for several generations before it was written down in a dead language, then translated and re-translated to fit political agendas through the ages since ... well forever. So don't tell me that your American English translation is the last word. I won't believe it. And there are those Gay people who were brought up in families that were so repressive, that they are actually married to a member of the opposite sex because it is "expected" of them. Can you say green with jealousy? And there are outrageous fundamentalists who claim "Homosexuality is a moral disorder. It is a moral disease, a sin and
corruption... No person is born homosexual, just like no one is born a
thief, a liar or murderer. People acquire these evil habits due to a
lack of proper guidance and education."* Which of course is just so much crap. In US law there are many forms of murder from the planned premeditated gruesome of taking someone's life to the automobile accident when you are found at fault for someone's death. Tell me, which of these behaviors are "learned" or even "habits"? When I worked retail the most stolen items were candy bars (kids trying to learn a bad habit and often failing) and baby formula (desperate new parents?) with cosmetics a close third (kids again). All of the kids we caught were terrified that we would call their parents. So who was "not guiding" them? As to liars, we are now back to politicians and their promises.
Now let us look at another issue. What is the job of a legislator in a free society? Isn't it to protect those minorities who cannot get a majority vote? I don't care what the popular view is or what the majority thinks. It is like salt-and-pepper couples. Legislators no longer even question the right of mixed race couples even though they are in the minority. And I am sure there is a large underground against it.
Gay people of all kinds have the same rights and freedoms as I do, and they should be free to exercise them. In fact, it shouldn't even be an issue. If a woman wants to marry another woman and become life partners, let them be.
* see http://www.missionislam.com/knowledge/homosexuality.htm
