We have now reached the point in the Gay Marriage debate at which the Nov 4 election is almost a month behind us and much of the fire appears to be running out of fuel, even if only temporarily. As a nation, we have just enjoyed a wonderful (almost accident free) Holiday weekend. We are sombered by the siege in India, which reminds us that terrorism is, and most likely, will continue to be at our front door, both overseas and here in the U.S.
Nonetheless, now that we are turning to holiday shopping, many of the hate crimes are (hopefully) dwindling and we can hear the calmer heads of reason as they speak out.
This post at The Volokh Conspiracy is a well written and thought out piece calling for an end to al-Gayda’s gestapo like tactics to intimidate, discrimate and terrorize the Mormon church into accepting Gay Marriage.
Here is an excerpt from Dale Carpenter’s post.
I am uncomfortable with pickets directed at specific places of worship like the Mormon church in Los Angeles. It’s too easy for such protests to degenerate into the kinds of ugly religious intolerance this country has long endured. Mormons, in particular, have historically suffered rank prejudice and even violence. Epithets and taunts directed at individuals are especially abhorrent. Individual Mormons (and blacks and others) bravely and publicly opposed Prop 8. Even those who supported Prop 8 are not all anti-gay bigots, though I saw plenty of anti-gay bigotry when I was in California last week. As I’ve repeatedly argued, there are genuine concerns about making a change like this to an important social institution.
I started to read through the several hundred comments and surprisingly, they were (at least the first few) very calm and well stated. Here are some of the top comments (in order, not as rated by me):
In the end the opponents of P8 must decide what comes after the rally. Another election would have to occur and the California public would have to be persuaded to change their minds.
Civil disobedience is a far preferable strategy than litigation. Gay rights will be secure in this country when, and only when, the majority of the people are comfortable with that outcome. Courts cannot decree a change in public attitudes. Bull Connors’ firehoses did a lot more to advance the cause of black civil rights than any court.
My only real complaint is that I don’t think the Mormon church should be singled out. I know lots of gay groups are considering protesting black churches, and I think that’s a good thing.
Now we are finally starting to have civil discourses. I hope they continue.
More to come….
and various musings from this post…
- We are a God-fearing people on this planet. Holiday stems from Holy Day. Every religion has them.
- Were the Gay Marriage Activists behind the Wal-mart trampling? Do they hate Christians that much to try and blacken the eyes of the world’s biggest holiday? I hope not, and think not, but would not put anything past them at this point.
