thanks to a comment by fdtate on another journal, i found an essay by Sam Smith, editor of the Progressive Review. it speaks, with fundamental reason and civility, to a policy the Democrats would do well to adopt concerning the "gay marriage" cultural jihad. in case you can't get to the PR to read the whole article, called "Handling the Bullies," i'd like to just give a few introductory quotes from it.
Smith speaks of changing the ground of the argument..."Instead of letting the GOP define the issue as between morality and sin, the Democrats could reframe it as a debate between extremist bullies on one hand and moderate, fair-minded Americans on the other." He imagines a candidate asked "What do you think about gay marriages?" answering thusly:
" I'm a heterosexual and I'm married so I don't think about it much at all. What does bother me is when one group in this country tries to foist their personal values on another, and even tries to enforce it with a constitutional amendment. That's about as un-American as you can get. If you don't like gay marriages, then don't become gay and don't get married.
.....what i'm asking you to do is to be good, decent and fair-minded Americans and practice the sort of reciprocal liberty in which citizens say to each other, I will respect your liberty because i expect you respect mine....
...........As a public official I will not debate the issue of gay marriage because it is not the business of public officials. It is the business of religions and of the individuals involved. If the state can write a church's rules on marriage, it can determine how holy communion is performed and how its bishops are selected. But it can't do that because the consitution says it can't."
How i hope this essay falls into the hands of John Kerry, or whoever ends up as the Democratic party candidate, that it happens soon, and that he will give deep and serious consideration to deflecting the bullies from making this the only thing American voters read/hear/think about for the next 8 months.
3 comments:
"What does bother me is when one group in this country tries to foist their personal values on another" This is my biggest problem with the "right" who are supposed to be against govt interference. Hah! Reminds me of a bumper sticker I used to have, "Against abortion? Then don't have one". Gay marriage has nothing to do with me, and I wouldn't presume to tell ANYONE who they should or shouldn't marry!
Enjoyed the post and the other guest's choice of bumper stickers.
It's tough for the conservative right to avoid all this chronic bullying, it's at the heart of their elitist and exclusionary way of thinking. Now they're even talking of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage; talk about divisive politics.
The best solution is to get Bush out of office and the right out of power.
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