Sunday, March 29, 2015

Old Tricks...

There's an old trick we played as kids when we wanted to pull something over on someone. We would point at something else to distract them. And kids use other tricks to get friends to go along with bad ideas. It's another distraction method. Make the other kids believe that something will happen to them if they don't go along with it. The "dangers" can have no basis in fact but tell it with enough enthusiasm and you'll get followers.
I'm not sure if people are just clueless, mindless or willing participants in what they know is distraction. When the Supreme Court ruled narrowly in favor of Edie Winsor last year overturning DOMA, I knew there would be backlash. We have watched federal courts rule in favor of same sex marriage in the majority of cases since.
There is a very loud and determined minority of our population that will have none of this. They demand their "Religious Freedom" to treat a whole segment of our population as badly as they wish to treat them. In court, these religious groups have had opportunity to prove harm to society if same sex couples are permitted to marry. In court, this requires actual proof. The myths and scare tactics that have long been promoted and supported in our society cannot be proven in court.
So, now having failed in court, the opponents of same sex marriage are back in State Legislatures with a "Religious Freedom" movement. They need legislative protection to allow them to treat an entire class of people as badly as they wish. But they don't want to come right out and say it that way so they insist that it is about protecting preachers from their sermons being censored. Or it's about business owners being able to keep difficult or unruly customers out of their businesses.
PEOPLE! When someone has to lie about what they are doing to get you to go along with it, there's a problem. If you fall for that lie, you've got a problem.
If you know that's what they are doing and you agree with it - we've got a problem. Please don't look at me and say "one of my best friends is gay," but....but...but...

1 comment:

  1. I think these people are digging their own graves. I see what is going on in Indiana, where the governor is trying to make it legal to discriminate against gays and I beleive it is going to backfire. They will be put in thier place as light is shed on them. If Jan Brewer had to back down, so will Mike Pence. I say give them all the rope they need.

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