Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Bigotry

I recently wrote a letter to the editor of my local paper. The text follows:

I'm sorry, but I don't feel that enshrining bigotry into our Constitution via the "Defense of Marriage Amendment" is a good idea, especially when the country has so many more pressing issues to be addressed.

Does anyone really think that if we outlaw homosexuality, God will protect us from the terrorists? Not to insult my religious friends, but I need a bit more tangible protections than that.


The letter was published in the Monday, June 5, 2006 edition of the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Somehow, this issue strikes a nerve with me. It seems so petty, so mean spirited, and so un-American. Last night, conservative commentater Bill Bennett was on The Daily Show to pimp his new book. To everyone's surpise, especially Bennett's, Jon actually asked some serious sounding questions about fairness and true freedoms. One of his real zingers was to ask how someone could sound off about personal freedom to live as one likes, and how the government had no right to interfere with that, and then turn around and espouse a campaign to deny those rights to a large segment of the populace. Bennett had no real response, of course, except to hem and haw and mumble the tired old conservative response that that's the way it's always been, and how it will somehow harm heterosexual marriage. I'm still waiting for a real, concrete answer to why that is true.

The irony, of course, goes way over someone like Bill Bennett's head. I'm sure he expected less actual journalism and more obvious comedic digs at his position. The thing is, the position favoring the amendment banning gay marriage is so ironic, that its proponents are funny just by trying to defend it. Jon Stewart didn't have to make jokes, Bill Bennett and his position was the joke.

Hopefully, this ill-conceived notion will go down in flames, and its supporters will suffer for having once again brought it up.

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