Warning: If you find this post offensive, you are probably the very person who needs to read it most.
I’m angry. Actually, “angry” is an understatement for what I’m feeling — but I endeavor to be polite.
I’ve had it up to my big baby blues with every racist, bigoted, sexist, hetero-sexist, homophobic, religious zealot, hate-spewing, ignorant fool. You know who you are, so don’t pretend I’m referring to someone else and look the other way.
This is the United States of America. We are supposedly a free and enlightened society. Yet, I can’t make it through one single night without encountering some hateful act perpetrated by someone disguised as a “good” citizen.
Come on, people. Wake up. It’s 2010!
I’ll say it over and over … every night if I must:
Hate is NOT inherent.
We are not born to hate.
We are taught to hate.
[Translation: we are taught to fear that which we do not understand.]
We have a shameful history of hypocrisy in this country and it’s time for us to take a strong collective stand against it. Hypocrisy is not something of which we should be proud.
I’m tired of all of the so-called “family values” groups who expend every drop of energy they collectively have on trying to ruin the lives of others. (California’s Proposition 8, Maine’s Proposition 1, and the current battle in Iowa to rid the bench of justices who refuse to rule against equality are prime examples).
I’m sickened by the religious groups who hide behind a shroud of “righteousness” while they pour enormous sums of money into political causes that will demean and hurt other human beings. Or those religious groups who seem to exist for the sole purpose of spewing hate (the Westboro Baptist Church is number one on my list). If you dare to click on that link, note that their URL is hateful in and of itself.
I’m shocked that so many of you who have been persecuted for who you are will not stand up and fight against the same persecution perpetrated upon other human beings. This list is extensive and most certainly includes those who have been subjected to discrimination based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity, age and disability, to name a few.
This is NOT a politically correct post by any means. I told you, I’m angry.
As a society, we’ve already learned that some things are just plain wrong. For that reason, we have enacted laws against those very things. The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery. Desegregation laws are on the books. There are now hate crimes laws. The Women’s Suffrage movement earned women the right to vote. This is by no means an exhaustive list but I’m rather sure you are catching my drift.
Why do we then condone blatantly discriminatory laws such as the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) or the military’s longstanding “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy?
I want to scream when someone insists that righting a wrong shouldn’t be “up to the courts.” Folks, it’s not up to the courts to randomly decide anything. Judges and Justices issue decisions based upon our State and Federal Constitutions. I’m not going to attempt to teach constitutional law and procedure in this post, so suffice it to say that if a law or policy violates the Constitution, then it must be struck down. Just because a person (or group) disagrees with something doesn’t mean it is constitutional to prevent other people from being able to enjoy the freedom to do it. Depriving another person of his or her rights should never be acceptable. That’s what living in a free country is all about.
Let’s take a walk back in time for a moment, shall we? It wasn’t so long ago that in the good old U.S. of A. it shocked the sensibilities of the fair citizenry to think that two people who were not of the same religion would have the audacity to marry. Those brave couples were ostracized, ridiculed and shunned by those who were supposed to love and support them. Today, interfaith couples are not a rare phenomenon. It’s fine if you personally disagree with interfaith marriages. You don’t have to participate in one. But it’s not for you to say someone else can’t choose to do so.
Prior to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia, there were laws against “Whites” marrying “Blacks.” Today, bi-racial couples don’t have to think twice about walking down the aisle. I don’t know how many bi-racial couples exist in the U.S. but I’m rather sure it’s more than one. Again, it’s fine for you to personally disagree with bi-racial marriages. Don’t marry someone of another race. But don’t stand in the way of someone else who chooses to do so.
In the not-so-distant past, people with mental illnesses were locked away in attics or institutions. Today, those afflicted with such illnesses receive support services from the community. Their basic human rights are not only respected but protected by law. They are not denied the opportunity to live happy and productive lives. It’s fine if you don’t agree that mentally ill citizens should have the choice to live in the community rather than being locked away in an attic. But that’s where it ends. It’s simply not for you to decide that such a person’s rights don’t matter.
In fairly recent history, people of different ethnic groups didn’t dare to marry. Oh my word, what a horrific concept! Corrupting the ethnic bloodline was akin to blasphemy. Perish the thought. Such unions might produce mutant offspring (or at least children with awful tempers). Sorry, I was on a roll. Once again, people, if it offends you personally, don’t marry someone of a different ethnicity. But get the heck out of the way if another person chooses to marry someone of a different ethnicity. It’s just not your call.
Are you sensing a theme here?
There are individuals and groups who will fight to the death to prevent same-sex couples from marrying in the name of protecting the so-called sanctity of marriage… yet those same people aren’t picketing the courts to prevent heterosexual couples from obtaining divorces. I wonder why.
I practice law for a living. That means that I spend a good share of my time sitting in courtrooms listening to people testify. I hear amazing stories. Husbands who beat their wives as a hobby, fathers who rape their young daughters because it beats watching television, married couples who cheat on each other with such frequency that they have a lifetime pass to the Holiday Inn … the list goes on.
Not a problem. Nope. Let’s protect those family values.
In the wake of multiple teen suicides related to gay bullying, there are individuals like Clint McCance, who openly spew their homophobic hatred. He serves on the Board of Education in Western Arkansas. If that doesn’t unnerve you, it should.
There are religious leaders such as Boyd K. Packer who preach hatred against gays and lesbians from the pulpit. If he weren’t so sad, I do believe he’d scare me.
There are organizations who live and breathe to make sure that same-sex couples can’t enjoy the simple right to marry the person they love. (And no, allowing same-sex couples to marry won’t lead to laws allowing people to marry their damn dogs).
I’ll cast my eloquence aside for a moment and ask a simple question: What the hell are you thinking?
It’s time to hold people accountable for their hypocrisy, their hatred and their ignorance.
If we have learned nothing from the history of this great nation of ours, it is that in the end, rational, thinking, enlightened human beings eventually come to their senses.
I’m just hoping that it will be sooner rather than later.
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Disclaimer: The information, comments and links posted on the blog do not constitute legal advice. I will not respond to any specific legal questions in the comments section of this blog. Read my entire disclaimer.
copyright 2010 Irene C. Olszewski
