Yes on Prop 8=Yes on hate

It was incredible to see Americans move beyond racial prejudice to elect a man as president “based on the content of his character rather than the color of his skin” to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King.  At the same time it was equally disappointing to see Proposition 8 get passed in California by a small margin.

When I wrote on Proposition 8 last week, I received a number of comments, mostly from those who were supporters of it.  I was shocked at the anger, the fear, the hatred & the self-righteousness that these so called “Christians” had.  One person implied that I was a bigot & encouraged me to look up the meaning of bigot. So I did. According to Webster’s Dictionary a bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially:  one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance. I fail to see how this applies to me.

In my experience, the most basic teaching of Jesus was “love thy neighbor as thyself.”   I have read the comments of a number of “Yes on 8” supporters in response to different articles about Prop 8.  None of the comments were based on anything that I could see had anything to do with the teachings of Jesus.  They were all fueled by fear, hatred, intolerance, & homophobia.  Many different groups call themselves “Christian” such as the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS.  Leader Fred Phelps teaches that “God hates gays” & that is accepted as “Christianity.”  Children are taught to hate gays in that church.  How is that “Christian” & love and acceptance are “Un-Christian?” 

This movement to ban gay marriage that has now spread through thirty states appears to be a distortion of what any true spiritual teachings are. A cancer if you will.  Why are these so called “Christians” putting so much time, money & energy into what they consider to be “preserving the sanctity of marriage?”  Remember at one time it was illegal for bi-racial couples to get married.  How is this movement any different from the Ku Klux Klan, who says that their mission is to preserve "white Christianity?"  Isn’t Prop 8 just a new type of “Jim Crow” law?

Can’t we at least agree that we will not always agree, but that the one thing we can agree on is that we are all equal?  As we evolve as a country, it becomes necessary to look back at the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution to see what the founding fathers were really talking about.  We allowed slavery in this country till the Civil War. We did not allow women to vote until the 1920’s. We allowed segregation until the civil rights movement.  Isn’t this just another step forward in realizing that “all men are created equal?” Why do so called “Christians” always want to make this into a moral/religious debate. It isn’t.  This is a civil issue, not a religious one.  As we are supposed to have separation of Church & State in this country, how can it be constitutional to write religious beliefs into our state Constitution? 

According to one of posts from George, an opponent of Prop 8, it does take away these rights. 

1. Pension plan survivor benefits
2. Guaranteed leave when a family member is ill
3. Long-term care insurance for public employees
4. Tax exemption of inheritance
5. Spousal veteran benefits
6. Ability to not testify against spouse
7. Property tax and home value can be reassessed after death of spouse (meaning taxes can skyrocket)
8. Tax exemption of assets over $11,000 between spouses
9. Shared property
10. Marriage

These “Christians” insist with their fear mongering that without Prop 8 that churches could be sued for not performing gay weddings, that businesses could be sued for not wanting to do business with gay couples who are getting married or planning for families. Both of these assertions are lies.  For example the Catholic Church has never allowed someone who is divorced to get married in a traditional Catholic wedding. They have never been sued for that. That is why it is called freedom of religion in this country. If a church does not believe in gay marriage, believes that gays are sinners, etc, they won’t be forced to perform gay weddings.

Just think of the truly Christian things that the supporter of Prop 8 could be doing with their time, energy & money. Persons like millionaires Elsa Broekhuizen Prince and Howard F. Ahmanson Jr, two of the major private donors who helped fund Yes on Prop 8.  They could help the poor, the elderly, the terminally ill, the handicapped, those with drug & alcohol problems. They could take a page from the late, great Brooke Astor’s book & do fundraising for noble causes.  Instead they would rather promote discrimination. They'd rather attempt to further their own personal agendas than make the world a better place. They’d rather keep the country divided into separate groups than allow everyone equal rights as citizens of the United States of America.