Diary of a Mad Grrrl:

give it up! stop hating people! it'll make you feel better! <!--break--> I think its almost funny that we still have to fight has hard as we do for civil rights and human rights. When women wanted to be able to vote they had to fight and fight and fight. Now, I doubt that even the most sexist, conservative chauvinistic assholes around would truly believe that we don't deserve it. The idea of women not voting is now absurd. African Americans had to fight and fight and fight and fight for civil rights- and really, despite the fact that there is still such a terrible amount of racism in this country, there aren't a whole lot of people campaigning for separate water fountains, because that is simply absurd, and we realize it now. Even good ol' boy politicians now feign racial tolerance. So really- we know how this movie ends- it ends with those fighting against injustice being right and those fighting for it being wrong. Thats always been the way. So now we are fighting for same-sex marriages. They are fighting against them. Same fight, different day. We will win because their arguments are as absurd as those that once decried women and blacks unequal to white men. They say that same sex marriages are wrong because the bible says so- that seems to be the main argument, and sure, it would be a darn good one were we to be living in a theocracy- unfortunately, we're not. The argument keeps coming up that the "Founding Fathers" of our country wrote the constitution based on "Christian" principles and meant for the country to be a bible based Christian nation. However, its actually quite the opposite.Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Paine and James Madison were not in fact Christians- and it is plainly written in many texts that they disagreed passionately with much of the bible. To quote Thomas Jefferson- "I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth." I feel that it is also important to mention, that the bible in no way condemns consensual, monogamous homosexual relationships. The whole Sodom thing? That was about rape- not consensual relationships. That part in Leviticus with the "thou shalt not lie down with man as with women" thing (or whatever that was, I don't know the exact quote), was soon followed up by an out and out condemnation of anyone who would choose to wear clothing made of two different materials. So polyester is out for the truly holy- and everyone who lived through the seventies is going straight to hell. So there goes that argument. The other popular argument is that if same-sex marriages are legalized, then Mormons will want polygamy to be legalized, and then people will want to marry their dogs, and then somehow we will all be forced to marry people of the same sex, have many spouses, and also marry our dogs. Now, I have to say- I wouldn't care if polygamy were legalized, it really wouldn't effect my life in the least, unless I personally chose to engage in it. However, I don't quite see how it is a direct effect of legalizing same-sex marriages. The dog thing? You show me a dog, wearing a wedding dress who can talk and sign "Fluffy" to a marriage license- and then we can talk about that. Another argument is that it will tear the very fabric of our society apart. That the basis of our civilization is the child-producing union of man and wife. What that says to me is that my only purpose is to reproduce, and I sure don't like that. It comes from the doctrine that the only reason for sex is to produce children- and I honestly don't think that there is a person in the country that buys into that wholeheartedly. If people are supposed to be married only to bear children, then why not just have arranged marriages? People get married because they love eachother, it shouldn't matter what sex they are- just as much as it shouldn't matter what race they are (and don't forget that interracial marriages were banned until the late 1960's). There is so much wrong with the world- there are wars, violence, unemployment, poverty, sweatshops- with all of these terrible things, shouldn't we be happy when there is love in the world? It is beyond me why anyone would be so against something as good and nice as love. Some so-called liberals like Hillary Rodham Clinton, are willing to support "civil unions," because "the majority of people in this country are not yet comfortable with the idea of same sex marriages." They're not comfortable with it you say? Well, alot of men were "uncomfortable" with women voting, alot of white people were "uncomfortable" with giving up slaves. Since when does the comfort level of bigots outweigh a peoples demand for civil rights? That puzzles me more than anything. The democrats are acting like the kids in highschool that never turned their heads when you were being shoved into a locker and then wrote "I've always admired you for being such an individual" in your yearbook. Yeah, the republicans are the class bullies, but in some ways those that stand and do nothing for fear of being tormented themselves are the ones who hurt you the most. I know, that just like any other step towards civil rights, this is going to be a fight. I just wish that it didn't have to be. I want so much to believe that people are basically good at heart. I want the world to see the absurdity of bigotry.

<p>give it up! stop hating people! it'll make you feel better!</p> <!--break--><p>I think its almost funny that we still have to fight has hard as we do for civil rights and human rights. When women wanted to be able to vote they had to fight and fight and fight. Now, I doubt that even the most sexist, conservative chauvinistic assholes around would truly believe that we don't deserve it. The idea of women not voting is now absurd. African Americans had to fight and fight and fight and fight for civil rights- and really, despite the fact that there is still such a terrible amount of racism in this country, there aren't a whole lot of people campaigning for separate water fountains, because that is simply absurd, and we realize it now. Even good ol' boy politicians now feign racial tolerance. So really- we know how this movie ends- it ends with those fighting against injustice being right and those fighting for it being wrong. Thats always been the way. </p> <p>So now we are fighting for same-sex marriages. They are fighting against them. Same fight, different day. We will win because their arguments are as absurd as those that once decried women and blacks unequal to white men. They say that same sex marriages are wrong because the bible says so- that seems to be the main argument, and sure, it would be a darn good one were we to be living in a theocracy- unfortunately, we're not. The argument keeps coming up that the "Founding Fathers" of our country wrote the constitution based on "Christian" principles and meant for the country to be a bible based Christian nation. However, its actually quite the opposite.Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Paine and James Madison were not in fact Christians- and it is plainly written in many texts that they disagreed passionately with much of the bible. To quote Thomas Jefferson- "I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth." </p> <p>I feel that it is also important to mention, that the bible in no way condemns consensual, monogamous homosexual relationships. The whole Sodom thing? That was about rape- not consensual relationships. That part in Leviticus with the "thou shalt not lie down with man as with women" thing (or whatever that was, I don't know the exact quote), was soon followed up by an out and out condemnation of anyone who would choose to wear clothing made of two different materials. So polyester is out for the truly holy- and everyone who lived through the seventies is going straight to hell.</p> <p>So there goes that argument. The other popular argument is that if same-sex marriages are legalized, then Mormons will want polygamy to be legalized, and then people will want to marry their dogs, and then somehow we will all be forced to marry people of the same sex, have many spouses, and also marry our dogs. Now, I have to say- I wouldn't care if polygamy were legalized, it really wouldn't effect my life in the least, unless I personally chose to engage in it. However, I don't quite see how it is a direct effect of legalizing same-sex marriages. The dog thing? You show me a dog, wearing a wedding dress who can talk and sign "Fluffy" to a marriage license- and then we can talk about that.</p> <p>Another argument is that it will tear the very fabric of our society apart. That the basis of our civilization is the child-producing union of man and wife. What that says to me is that my only purpose is to reproduce, and I sure don't like that. It comes from the doctrine that the only reason for sex is to produce children- and I honestly don't think that there is a person in the country that buys into that wholeheartedly. If people are supposed to be married only to bear children, then why not just have arranged marriages? People get married because they love eachother, it shouldn't matter what sex they are- just as much as it shouldn't matter what race they are (and don't forget that interracial marriages were banned until the late 1960's). There is so much wrong with the world- there are wars, violence, unemployment, poverty, sweatshops- with all of these terrible things, shouldn't we be happy when there is love in the world? It is beyond me why anyone would be so against something as good and nice as love.</p> <p>Some so-called liberals like Hillary Rodham Clinton, are willing to support "civil unions," because "the majority of people in this country are not yet comfortable with the idea of same sex marriages." They're not comfortable with it you say? Well, alot of men were "uncomfortable" with women voting, alot of white people were "uncomfortable" with giving up slaves. Since when does the comfort level of bigots outweigh a peoples demand for civil rights? That puzzles me more than anything. The democrats are acting like the kids in highschool that never turned their heads when you were being shoved into a locker and then wrote "I've always admired you for being such an individual" in your yearbook. Yeah, the republicans are the class bullies, but in some ways those that stand and do nothing for fear of being tormented themselves are the ones who hurt you the most.</p> <p>I know, that just like any other step towards civil rights, this is going to be a fight. I just wish that it didn't have to be. I want so much to believe that people are basically good at heart. I want the world to see the absurdity of bigotry.</p>

Diary of a Mad Grrrl: http://rochester.indymedia.org/node/1500

Diary of a Mad Grrrl: http://rochester.indymedia.org/node/1500