In a singular act of courage (or
political suicide), Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio publically changed his stance on same-sex marriage. I
admire his courage in making that change.
It cannot have been easy for him to do so. I have been reading his Facebook page and
other online comments. There have been
supportive posts; then again, I have seen horrific, vile, and inflammatory ones. I wonder if the latter comment posters ever
listen to themselves.
I do find it interesting that
politicians think it is okay to blatantly orate and legislate discrimination,
then suddenly change their minds when it becomes “personal.” When I vote for someone, I do so with the hope
that he or she will govern in a way that reflects the needs of those that put him
or her in office. That requires the
elected official put aside personal feelings and do what is best for the
constituents, not use that power to foist his or her own personal or religious beliefs
on the people who voted.
We are all equal under the law, and
that means something to me. It’s important
to remember that equality under the law means the right to
equal protection of the laws, a law being any basic right or freedom to which
all human beings are entitled and in whose exercise a government may not
interfere (including rights to life and liberty as well as freedom of thought
and expression and equality before the law).
This applies to everyone,
not just to those who are white, or Christian, or male, or straight.
I have always believed in organized
religion. I think it’s important for
children to grow up learning the religious basics: love God, love your neighbor, and do no
harm. It gives them a foundation from
which to become responsible, ethical adults.
But more and more I see hateful rhetoric, name calling, and
discrimination…all couched under the umbrella of religion. Love your neighbor means every neighbor, not
just the white neighbor, or the Christian neighbor, or the male neighbor, or
the straight neighbor. It means treating
everyone the way you want to be treated.
It means giving everyone you meet your respect.
There are those who think that
acceptance and legalization of same-sex unions or marriages will bring the
downfall of America; that God, in his wrath, will strike us down like Sodom and
Gomorrah. I believe that the downfall of
this nation will come not because we accept and legalize such unions, but
because we don’t accept them. We promote
intolerance, and in doing so, we inflame division. It is the division that will be our undoing.
If the God we believe in created the
universe and everything in it, then he doesn’t care if his creations are white,
black, red, green, male, female, gay, straight, or in between. He doesn’t care if they are Christian, Jew,
Muslim, Buddhist, Hindi, Hari Krishna, Wiccan, Pagan, Agnostic, or Atheist. God loves ALL his creations in their myriad
of differences and in the wonders of their diversity. Who are we to question God’s wisdom? Who are we to harangue, berate, judge, disrespect,
or condemn what God has created?
Think about it.
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