...With Liberty, and Justice For All.
I apologize for a long post today, but if you stick with it, it is decent reading! The last line of the pledge of allegiance. The pledge has been in the news quite a bit recently for the line that precedes this line...one nation under God. I personally have no problem with including the reference to a higher being in this pledge. I firmly believe that God, in whatever manifestation he takes, plays an important role in the lives of many Americans, and I do not think we should ignore that. I do have a problem when that manifestation becomes Christian-centric however. And that thought leads me to my premise of this post that we do not place enough emphasis on the last line of the pledge, with LIBERTY, and JUSTICE for all.
My thoughts today center on the topic of gay Americans and gay rights. I was floored this morning by the comments of the Vice President of the USA Dick Cheney, and I was floored in a good way, which shocked me even more. You see, I think Bush II is a harmless monarch. I firmly believe that he lacks the mental capacity to run this country on his own...he is aloof, and just a simple guy. It is his advisors that make this administration so hardcore to the right(wrong) of the majority of Americans. Now, the chief villain in this is John Ashcroft. A guy so popular in his home state of Missouri that he lost a Senate race to a dead guy (much respect for Mel Carnahan). But next on the list for me is Dick Cheney, D. Rumsfeld, and Condoleeza Rice.
Dick Cheney is a politician that I have respect for because he has views, he sticks with them, and be damned if anyone challenges them. The reason I dislike him is because many of his views are too conservative for me and tend to focus on the advancement of the wealthy. I also have had issues with him because he does have an openly gay daughter and he has stood by Bush II during this ridiculous push to "ban" gay marriage. What frustrated me was that Cheney and his daughter Mary seem to be close. Mary works closely with her father to help him get elected to offices and is one of his closest allies, even though Cheney is forced to take a hard-right stance on gay marriage, which may alienate his daughter. Although, to be fair, gay marriage is also controversial with some religious gays as well. At any rate, last night, Cheney abruptly broke with the Bush doctrine on gay marriage. It occurred during a town hall meeting and Cheny actually used the words, "freedom means freedom for everyone,". Now, part of me really appreciated the support a dad was showing for his daughter, and another part of me finally screamed, at last, someone on the right acknowledges that this is an issue of LIBERTY and JUSTICE and not an issue of GOD and MORALITY. However, another part of me was skeptical. If freedom means freedom for everyone, why would Cheney support a document like the Patriot Act, which obviously makes Muslim Americans a target? Well, at least it is a start. Today at least Dick Cheney, you get kudos from me for breaking with your boss in the name of what is right and what is humane. Hopefully the fate that befell the others that took a similar stance (Paul O'Neil, Richard Clarke, etc) will not happen to Cheney, but the religious right (wrong) is already up in arms.
Now, I am a member of the Human Rights Campaign and I consider myself to be an advocate for GLBTQ issues, I have to be considering my work with developing college students. The religious right (wrong) has tried to turn the issue of gay marriage into an issue of sin and righteousness. I have to take issue with this. First of all, what gay Americans are seeking is the right to enter into a legally binding agreement in which they share the same benefits of couples that are in heterosexual unions. We are talking about tax breaks, right of visitation, adoption rights, right of survivorship, and other benefits. Now, the legal definition of this union is called marriage, and this is where the problem is. Marriage is the legal term, but marriage in it's religious meaning is a spiritual union that can only happen between a man and a woman (depending on what religion you practice). By using marriage as the definition in legal terms we quantify it as a religious ceremony when what people are seeking is a legal union. I mean there are tons of registered religious leaders (including myself) that are able to spiritually connect two individuals through ceremony right now. Having a religious ceremony is not at issue, but having it called marriage is what incites and infuriates the religious right (wrong). They think that by banning gay marriage they are protecting the spiritual value of the marriage ceremony, but what they are really doing is blocking the pursuit of LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. Any human should have the right to enter into a relationship with another consenting adult and receive the benefits the government confers to couples.
Finally, the right (wrong) says that legalizing civil unions/gay marriage will destroy the sanctity of marriage and ruin our social structures. Friends, my question is, what is left destroy???? We have divorce rates that quantify to 1 in 2 marriages ending in divorce. We have an urban parental crisis that is leaving single parents to care for numerous children on their own. We have articles on CNN talking about if extramarital affairs are becoming more accepted. How exactly are two homosexual people who are ready to commit to each other, be monogamous, and love each other enough to fight this difficult fight going to destroy heterosexual relationships anymore? We have done f***ed them up enough as it is. I say we should welcome loving couples into the fold with open arms and say, let us learn from you, let us welcome you to the community. If we have two loving parents that want to adopt children we should say, please take some of these children that only want love and support! Nurture and raise them to be respectful and responsible citizens! Teach them about love and understanding, teach them tolerance and peace. Instead of pushing citizens out of the process we should strive everyday to make sure that we give them liberty, and we make sure there is justice for all. If God is looking down on us, it is what he would want and would expect, but that is another post, for another time.
My thoughts today center on the topic of gay Americans and gay rights. I was floored this morning by the comments of the Vice President of the USA Dick Cheney, and I was floored in a good way, which shocked me even more. You see, I think Bush II is a harmless monarch. I firmly believe that he lacks the mental capacity to run this country on his own...he is aloof, and just a simple guy. It is his advisors that make this administration so hardcore to the right(wrong) of the majority of Americans. Now, the chief villain in this is John Ashcroft. A guy so popular in his home state of Missouri that he lost a Senate race to a dead guy (much respect for Mel Carnahan). But next on the list for me is Dick Cheney, D. Rumsfeld, and Condoleeza Rice.
Dick Cheney is a politician that I have respect for because he has views, he sticks with them, and be damned if anyone challenges them. The reason I dislike him is because many of his views are too conservative for me and tend to focus on the advancement of the wealthy. I also have had issues with him because he does have an openly gay daughter and he has stood by Bush II during this ridiculous push to "ban" gay marriage. What frustrated me was that Cheney and his daughter Mary seem to be close. Mary works closely with her father to help him get elected to offices and is one of his closest allies, even though Cheney is forced to take a hard-right stance on gay marriage, which may alienate his daughter. Although, to be fair, gay marriage is also controversial with some religious gays as well. At any rate, last night, Cheney abruptly broke with the Bush doctrine on gay marriage. It occurred during a town hall meeting and Cheny actually used the words, "freedom means freedom for everyone,". Now, part of me really appreciated the support a dad was showing for his daughter, and another part of me finally screamed, at last, someone on the right acknowledges that this is an issue of LIBERTY and JUSTICE and not an issue of GOD and MORALITY. However, another part of me was skeptical. If freedom means freedom for everyone, why would Cheney support a document like the Patriot Act, which obviously makes Muslim Americans a target? Well, at least it is a start. Today at least Dick Cheney, you get kudos from me for breaking with your boss in the name of what is right and what is humane. Hopefully the fate that befell the others that took a similar stance (Paul O'Neil, Richard Clarke, etc) will not happen to Cheney, but the religious right (wrong) is already up in arms.
Now, I am a member of the Human Rights Campaign and I consider myself to be an advocate for GLBTQ issues, I have to be considering my work with developing college students. The religious right (wrong) has tried to turn the issue of gay marriage into an issue of sin and righteousness. I have to take issue with this. First of all, what gay Americans are seeking is the right to enter into a legally binding agreement in which they share the same benefits of couples that are in heterosexual unions. We are talking about tax breaks, right of visitation, adoption rights, right of survivorship, and other benefits. Now, the legal definition of this union is called marriage, and this is where the problem is. Marriage is the legal term, but marriage in it's religious meaning is a spiritual union that can only happen between a man and a woman (depending on what religion you practice). By using marriage as the definition in legal terms we quantify it as a religious ceremony when what people are seeking is a legal union. I mean there are tons of registered religious leaders (including myself) that are able to spiritually connect two individuals through ceremony right now. Having a religious ceremony is not at issue, but having it called marriage is what incites and infuriates the religious right (wrong). They think that by banning gay marriage they are protecting the spiritual value of the marriage ceremony, but what they are really doing is blocking the pursuit of LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. Any human should have the right to enter into a relationship with another consenting adult and receive the benefits the government confers to couples.
Finally, the right (wrong) says that legalizing civil unions/gay marriage will destroy the sanctity of marriage and ruin our social structures. Friends, my question is, what is left destroy???? We have divorce rates that quantify to 1 in 2 marriages ending in divorce. We have an urban parental crisis that is leaving single parents to care for numerous children on their own. We have articles on CNN talking about if extramarital affairs are becoming more accepted. How exactly are two homosexual people who are ready to commit to each other, be monogamous, and love each other enough to fight this difficult fight going to destroy heterosexual relationships anymore? We have done f***ed them up enough as it is. I say we should welcome loving couples into the fold with open arms and say, let us learn from you, let us welcome you to the community. If we have two loving parents that want to adopt children we should say, please take some of these children that only want love and support! Nurture and raise them to be respectful and responsible citizens! Teach them about love and understanding, teach them tolerance and peace. Instead of pushing citizens out of the process we should strive everyday to make sure that we give them liberty, and we make sure there is justice for all. If God is looking down on us, it is what he would want and would expect, but that is another post, for another time.
posted by GT at 6:51 AM
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