It appears that the proposal for a constitutional ban on gay marriage in Texas, officially called Proposition 2, is going to pass. In fact, Yahoo! news reports that 75% of voters have approved the measure. Of course, this isn't surprising. If liberal Oregon could say no to gay marriage, you know conservative Texas would.
I voted in favor of Proposition 2. I know that makes me a wild-eyed bigot in the opinion of some, but I believe I, and the other yes voters, did the right thing.
I voted yes for a couple of reasons. First, and most importantly, I believe gay marriage goes against the Judeo-Christian world view that's been the foundation of the West for 2000 years. The Bible tells us that God created Man male and female, and for that reason "a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Jesus understood this as the definition of marriage, quoting this Genesis verse when answering some Pharisees' question about divorce. And to make sure that the Pharisees understood not only what marriage was, but also who had created it, He added this famous line: "What God has joined, let not man put asunder." What did God join? Male and female. I can think of no more blatant way to "put asunder" what God has joined than to redefine marriage as including same-sex unions.
Liberal types will object that no one should vote on any measure based on religious beliefs. My reply is that in America we have freedom of conscience. That means not only that no American can be compelled to act against his deeply and sincerely held beliefs, but also that no American can be prevented from acting according to those same beliefs. And there is no exception made for religiously informed beliefs. Thus, religious people have the same right, the same freedom, as irreligious people to act according to their conscience in the voting booth. If liberals have a problem with that, perhaps they should resurrect the Soviet Union and move there.
The second reason I voted for Proposition 2 is that I have a problem with gay rights activists. Notice, I said with gay rights activists, not gay people in general. I really don't care if someone is gay or not. Yes, I believe the behaviour is immoral, but I believe that lots of behaviours, sexual and nonsexual, are immoral. That doesn't mean I'm out to get every person who indulges in those behaviours. But just because I'm not out to get everyone I believe is immoral doesn't mean I approve of their actions. Some behaviours have moral and/or legal prohibitions for very good reasons. You don't have to lift those prohibitions to be decent to the people who are breaking them.
And that's what gay activists don't understand. In their world, either you agree with them or you're a hatemonger, a bigot, a homophobe. For all their rantings about tolerance, gay activists have absolutely none for anyone who dissents from their orthodoxy. And they do have an orthodoxy, one they're imposing on society with Stalinist zeal. Their orthodoxy insists that homosexuals are born that way; that they are persecuted at every turn; that every institution in society must be pro-gay; that children must be taught to affirm homosexuality, regardless of what their parents believe; that you must love homosexuality to love homosexuals; that opposition to homosexuality must be outlawed; and that the state must enforce these measures with all its might. As I said, Stalinist zeal.
Gay activists just don't understand that this heavy-handed approach costs them support among people who really are willing to extend tolerance, though not approval, to homosexuality. Most Americans, even conservative ones, are willing to live and let live, so long as they aren't asked to change their beliefs about right and wrong. After all, live and let live has to cut both ways if it's really going to work. And when gay activists hypocritically demand tolerance for themselves while denying it to all who would disagree with them, they show that what they really believe in is live and let live for me, but not for thee. And that alienates a hell of alot of people, including me. Voting yes on Proposition 2 was my way of striking back at gay Stalinism.
Hopefully, gay activists will learn a little something from their defeat today. Actually, they could learn more than a little something from the masses of ordinary gays who go about their lives being who they are without shoving it in anyone's face. They go to school. They go to work. They openly love, and live with, people of the same sex. They even adopt children. And they do all this without the wrath of fire-breathing "homophobes" raining down on them. How? Maybe because they aren't raining down the wrath of gay Stalinism on their neighbors. Gay activists should take a good, long look at the people they claim to be fighting for. It seems to me they've already figured out how to be free in America.
2 comments:
I could not agree more with this. I'm Gonzo. I should have a parade and chant, I'm Gonzo, if you are not like me, you are on the wrong track! How long do you think I would be around. Yet we have this shoved down our throats on a constant basis. Like you, I do not care what people do, but I also do not care to listen to it. It has made me angry with the whole movement. Seems like every show on tv has to have a token gay. Whats the point!! Who really cares. If we would spend more time on serious issues that effect all our lives, gay or not, we would have far fewer problems.
I am a Christian, but I disagreed with Proposition 2. I don't live in Texas anymore, but I still follow Texas politics, and I would have voted against it in an instant.
God calls us to be a witness to the world, which does not mean insulting their way of life before they come to know Christ. This issue has done much more harm to Christian evangelism than help. People now see us as self-righteous, hypocritical, hostile, and full of rejection of anyone who is different. Evangelism is about accepting people where they are and then helping them live right. Jesus told many people that he loved them and did not judge them, and THEN he said go and sin no more. Not the other way around. (see John 8:11, John 15:22, and Matthew 9:13 for a few examples)
If you are opposed to gay marriage on Christian principles, that's fine. But we can't impose Christian beliefs on non-Christians (i.e. the majority of homosexuals). We have been given the divine charge to evangelize them first and help them come to know Christ. This Proposition only hurt that cause, and that is why I believe it was wrong.
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