An Open Letter to the Voters of North Carolina
*UPDATED*
Dear fellow Americans,
I was deeply saddened by the news coming out of North Carolina regarding Amendment 1.
To all those who voted in favor of Amendment 1 banning same-sex marriages, SHAME ON YOU!
Frankly, it's NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS.
You think that God's word, i.e. the Holy Bible, defines marriage as a love between one man and one woman. This is your ONLY basis for taking the position you have.
Biblical historian Daniel Tabor, a citizen of NC no less, posted this on his Facebook, and I think it is well worth repeating:
The voters of North Carolina who passed Amendment 1 have shown the rest of America the horrific depths of their bigoted ignorance. Marriage is not defined by the Bible to any adequate degree. In fact, the custom of marriage isn't even a Biblical institution. Marriage existed long before the Bible was ever written. I have it on good authority that the Chinese have been celebrating marriage just as long as the Jews have been, if not longer.
But Tabor, an expert on the Bible, makes a good point.
This law isn't just about interfering with people's personal lives--this is about repressing their basic human rights by not allowing them the same domestic protection during hospital visits. It's about not ensuring the fairness of any legal inheritance because they and their families will not be recognized as a domestic union. It's about not letting gays have access to the same medical insurance because they are not a domestic union. It's about not letting gays have custody of their biological children because they aren't recognized by the state.
What is it really about? It's about DESTROYING lives.
What ever happened to the Golden Rule of treating others the way you want to be treated? You who do not even know what your own Bible has to say on marriage (among other things)! For shame.
Dear voters of North Carolina, 60% of you voted for this immoral, degrading, and iniquitous law and in-so-doing 60% of you proudly attested to your HOMOPHOBIA and HATE of your fellow Americans.
You are a DISGRACE. What's more, you have disgraced your entire nation!
You have deliberately wounded people, have broken thousands of hearts, have sought to oppress and ruin your fellow Americans--Americans whose only desire was to chose someone they loved to be with perchance to enjoy some semblance of happiness.
And you took that away from them.
Don't you dare talk about destroying marriages when you are actively destroying other people's lives!
Don't you even dare.
For those that voted against the undemocratic, and most probably illegal, Amendment 1, I thank you. But at the same time, I don't envy you, for 60% of your fellow citizens revealed themselves to be bigoted, soulless, homophobes who apparently can't read--and that must be a dire situation. A dire situation indeed. For that, you have my pity.
P.S.
I just learned that the last time that NC ratified their state constitution with regard to marriage, it was to ban all ineracial marriages between a person of white skin and a person of negro decent. In retrospect I find this funny (in a not so funny kind of way), because on the actual amendment (see above photo) it actually says that marriage between whites and blacks is "prohibited forever."
Well, obviously not.
Even so, there is a not so subtle irony here. We could basically replace the word "negro" with the word "gay" and it's the same archaic, bigoted, mentality. Basically, marriage between same-sex couples is "prohibited forever."
Yeah, but how long will that last? Forever is such a short time when we realize nothing lasts forever. Especially in the 21st century where everything is advancing so rapidly, even our moral sense. It's only a matter of time before more people begin to advance along with the rest of the world.
I guess moral progress is pretty difficult though when you have a large group of douche-bags who use a book that is archaic, bigoted, and hate filled. I mean... these people aren't born racist homophobe twats. The ideas and the mentality have to be instilled in them first, by their narrow-minded and uncultured parents (who were raised the same way), by their xenophobic communities (cuz you gotta maintain the tribe's values first), but even though we can see them breeding intolerance and making a whole generation of PREJUDICED hate-filled morons, the question becomes, where did they get these prejudiced and idiotic beliefs from in the first place?
It's just a hunch, but I am willing to bet the majority of their archaic, bigoted, prejudiced, idiotic, and hateful beliefs come from their archaic, bigoted, and intolerant religious book--in this case, the Christian Bible.
As my friend Bud recently said on his excellent blog Dead Logic:
Indeed.
Personally, I wish people would learn to just keep their hate to themselves. But that would require a semblance of humanity which, it appears, is desperately lacking in America today. And that's sad.
Dear fellow Americans,
I was deeply saddened by the news coming out of North Carolina regarding Amendment 1.
To all those who voted in favor of Amendment 1 banning same-sex marriages, SHAME ON YOU!
- What does it matter if two people are in love?
- What does it matter if two people want to get married?
- Who are you to say they can or can't?
Frankly, it's NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS.
The ONLY excuse you have is a BAD one.
You think that God's word, i.e. the Holy Bible, defines marriage as a love between one man and one woman. This is your ONLY basis for taking the position you have.
Biblical historian Daniel Tabor, a citizen of NC no less, posted this on his Facebook, and I think it is well worth repeating:
Really sad about the ignorance of North Carolina voters tonight. The so-called "Marriage Amendment" was pitched as supporting "one man and one woman" that could hardly be anything other than popular. All over our state we had signs saying: Support Marriage. But what many missed was the next phrase, which made it practically and illegally nuts, that there are no other "domestic and legal unions" to be recognized.
From couples needing domestic protection to hospital visits, to just laws of legal inheritance, this simply makes no sense. It is absurd, and has nothing to do with "marriage." Why should there not be other forms of "domestic union"? Why impose a religious understanding of human relationships on our country that was founded on the principle of freedom and individual choice. Trivia question: Where does the Hebrew Bible ever mention or use the term marriage? Should I answer or can you guess?
The voters of North Carolina who passed Amendment 1 have shown the rest of America the horrific depths of their bigoted ignorance. Marriage is not defined by the Bible to any adequate degree. In fact, the custom of marriage isn't even a Biblical institution. Marriage existed long before the Bible was ever written. I have it on good authority that the Chinese have been celebrating marriage just as long as the Jews have been, if not longer.
But Tabor, an expert on the Bible, makes a good point.
This law isn't just about interfering with people's personal lives--this is about repressing their basic human rights by not allowing them the same domestic protection during hospital visits. It's about not ensuring the fairness of any legal inheritance because they and their families will not be recognized as a domestic union. It's about not letting gays have access to the same medical insurance because they are not a domestic union. It's about not letting gays have custody of their biological children because they aren't recognized by the state.
What is it really about? It's about DESTROYING lives.
My question is this: who do you think you are to oppress someone else and ruin their lives to such a degree? What gives you the right to cause others such grief and misery?
What ever happened to the Golden Rule of treating others the way you want to be treated? You who do not even know what your own Bible has to say on marriage (among other things)! For shame.
Dear voters of North Carolina, 60% of you voted for this immoral, degrading, and iniquitous law and in-so-doing 60% of you proudly attested to your HOMOPHOBIA and HATE of your fellow Americans.
You are a DISGRACE. What's more, you have disgraced your entire nation!
You have deliberately wounded people, have broken thousands of hearts, have sought to oppress and ruin your fellow Americans--Americans whose only desire was to chose someone they loved to be with perchance to enjoy some semblance of happiness.
And you took that away from them.
Don't you dare talk about destroying marriages when you are actively destroying other people's lives!
Don't you even dare.
For those that voted against the undemocratic, and most probably illegal, Amendment 1, I thank you. But at the same time, I don't envy you, for 60% of your fellow citizens revealed themselves to be bigoted, soulless, homophobes who apparently can't read--and that must be a dire situation. A dire situation indeed. For that, you have my pity.
P.S.
I just learned that the last time that NC ratified their state constitution with regard to marriage, it was to ban all ineracial marriages between a person of white skin and a person of negro decent. In retrospect I find this funny (in a not so funny kind of way), because on the actual amendment (see above photo) it actually says that marriage between whites and blacks is "prohibited forever."
Well, obviously not.
Even so, there is a not so subtle irony here. We could basically replace the word "negro" with the word "gay" and it's the same archaic, bigoted, mentality. Basically, marriage between same-sex couples is "prohibited forever."
Yeah, but how long will that last? Forever is such a short time when we realize nothing lasts forever. Especially in the 21st century where everything is advancing so rapidly, even our moral sense. It's only a matter of time before more people begin to advance along with the rest of the world.
I guess moral progress is pretty difficult though when you have a large group of douche-bags who use a book that is archaic, bigoted, and hate filled. I mean... these people aren't born racist homophobe twats. The ideas and the mentality have to be instilled in them first, by their narrow-minded and uncultured parents (who were raised the same way), by their xenophobic communities (cuz you gotta maintain the tribe's values first), but even though we can see them breeding intolerance and making a whole generation of PREJUDICED hate-filled morons, the question becomes, where did they get these prejudiced and idiotic beliefs from in the first place?
It's just a hunch, but I am willing to bet the majority of their archaic, bigoted, prejudiced, idiotic, and hateful beliefs come from their archaic, bigoted, and intolerant religious book--in this case, the Christian Bible.
As my friend Bud recently said on his excellent blog Dead Logic:
Prejudice makes people do strange things. It even makes people who claim to believe in a god of love act with pure hate. Nothing new.
Indeed.
Personally, I wish people would learn to just keep their hate to themselves. But that would require a semblance of humanity which, it appears, is desperately lacking in America today. And that's sad.
Well done. Beautifully said.
ReplyDelete