I've spent a respectable amount of time over the past few days shooting down any arguments for Amendment 1 that I could find on my newsfeed or among my peers. If you're a "Pro- Am. 1" person and I have not gotten to you yet, be patient and I will address you shortly. And eviscerate you in a public forum.
Oh, you're coming in here using religion as a weapon?
Someone just brought a hot glue gun to a gun fight. With this guy ^.
Unlike two-sided debates such as taxation, government intervention, and American Idol vs. The Voice, I don't see how this issue is debatable at all. As in, I see NO valid argument for this amendment whatsoever.
[Also, American Idol trumps.]
I completely understand that people want to hold tight to their religious beliefs. Kind, educated people use the Bible as their G.P.S., their reference book, and their emotional rock. I am 100% serious when I say that's great and I admire those people. I don't think that having religious convictions makes people less intelligent. It takes a strong, resolute person to believe and argue for something that they can't see. Christianity in particular has done MANY, many wonderful things for the world in terms of poverty aid, health resources for poor countries, and encouraging people to help others and love one another.
Unfortunately these merits are often obscured--buried under a dog-pile of Pat Robertsons, Jerry Falwells, money-laundering pastors, and zealots who preach messages of intolerance. What the Religious Right hasn't quiiiite figured out is that the media LOVES to see them flounder almost as much as they love doing stories on talking pets. The instant a high-profile pastor makes a polarizing comment or gets caught leaving an adult bookstore, the media is all over it faster than you can say "4-year old in a tanning bed."
Religious Right-ers, you are not doing yourselves any favors by coming out big (forgive the pun) against gay marriage. Look at history: society moves TOWARD inclusion. TOWARD rights for everyone. TOWARD equality for American citizens. Social Conservatives might as well be swimming against the undertow on the Carolina coast; feeling as though they're making progress but in the long run getting swept out to sea.
The only...THE ONLY argument I have seen from "pro-am"ers is the Biblical one. Come on, Christians...you're smarter than this! You know what the Bible is great for? A personal moral compass. You know what the Bible is NOT great for? Political legislation. This is not the Middle East, and we do not have a Theocracy up in here (spoiler alert: it's not working out super-great in the Middle East either, See: every news story ever.) A large percentage of this country sees the Bible as a brilliant religious text (one of many) and not much more. Why should I have to follow the "rules" of a club that I don't belong to? Maybe I specifically didn't join that club because of the rules. Or maybe I'm about the "Buffet System", whereby a go to a club meeting and take what I want from the message, and leave the rest. Why people are suddenly jumping to define marriage as "Man + Woman because of THE BIBLE!!1" while we have REAL political, humanitarian, and economic crap to sort out is simply beyond me. Religion and politics cannot and should not hook up, ever. They can flirt, wave, and sit next to each other but it need go no further. The Bible is chock-full of metaphors and (not to marginalize), but we as 21st-century Americans tend to do better when things are spelled out for us in plain English and we don't have to interpret too much.
I hope that if you're an NC resident and you have a chance to get out and vote today, you do so AGAINST Amendment 1. I won't oversimplify my argument with anecdotes about my gay and lesbian friends who are in loving, committed relationships but I want those guys and gals out there to know that my family and I stand with them. I can't make a good argument for having less love in the world.
Vote NO on 1. Unless you decide to hit an adult bookstore with a high-profile pastor on your way home from the polls, I promise your own marriage will be fine.
- Elyse
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