Posted on 08/03/2012 4:19:35 PM PDT by agooga
Being a hardcore constitutionalist, conservative, agnostic AND supporter of gay-marriage is not always easy. I usually take a lot of heat from both sides, and I'm used to that.
With the Chick-Fil-A situation, I see both sides of the issue. I support CFA and I support the idea of gay marriage. What I don't support are the tactics used by the left to bully, intimidate, mock, deride and create false narratives to achieve their goal.
I'm angry at the left for creating hatred. I see and hear a lot of it because I have so many gay and liberal friends, and I hate to see them so angry and hateful, and I hate to see them putting out all of that negativity into the world. I feel like it's pollution, seeping out of their mouths and fingertips, spreading and touching us all. I feel like it's hurting us all. I know it's hurting me.
Sometimes I try to explain this to them. I have many Christian friends who are for traditional marriage, and I RESPECT their point of view. I acknowledge the fact that thousands of years of customs and tradition, millions of years of evolution, and various types of traditional upbringing and church doctrine has deeply encoded the idea of man/woman relationships and man/woman marriage on almost all of us. Some of us have been able and willing to make the leap to their side and accept the gay lifestyle as valid, but many of us have not.
My pro-gay friends equate the gay rights struggle with the cvil rights struggle, and there are SOME parallels, but not as many as they would think. Slavery, segregation and other forms of racial discrimination were actually encoded in the laws of the time. There are no laws that currently discriminate against gay people-- the issue is simply that there are no laws that specifically countenance gay people, and the right to gay marriage.
Is there prejudice from some in the hetero community? Yes. Is this prejudice based on a belief in one's intellectual or physical superiority? No. It's based on an IDEA, essentially. It's often based on the principle of morality. Traditionalists think that gay people are "doing something wrong" or "doing something that is unnatural." Some heteros think that gay people choose this lifestyle and believe they can change themselves-- but choose not to as an act of rebellion. This is not true.
Gayness is imprinted, in my opinion, just as anti-gayness is imprinted. Neither are clear, conscious choices that we make-- they are largely made for us by our genetics, upbringing, culture or some combination.
I ask that you not hate gay people for this reason.
But I also directly ask gay people and their supporters not to hate you and TRY to understand why traditionalists feel uncomfortable, threatened and even repulsed by the gay lifestyle. And rather than trying to push traditionalists off the edge of the cliff, I ask my pro-gay friends to try to lead these skeptics away from the cliff with respect, tolerance and compassion. So far, this plea has fallen mostly on deaf ears.
I operate under no illusions that we can wave a magic wand and heal the wounds of our nation, largely inflicted by anarcho-radical leftwing 60's retread tactics. But is it just me, or does no one understand that the more you push with brute force, the more the other side digs in it's heels to resist?
Gay marriage will likely be reality in America soon. That issue will be settled in the SCOTUS and it will be all over in a soundbite released on a Friday night before the justices go on summer vacation. I am sure of that. But we still have to live with each other.
So my question is this: Have these words meant anything to you? And is it worth trying to help other people understand one another a little more? Or is it none of my (or anyone's) business?
If you are a “conservative” then you cannot be “pro gay marriagE” because being in favor of gay marriage is a progressive expansion of law, history, culture and social norms. Your entire premise is flawed.
Everyone's got an opinion.
So.. you’re a fag?
IBTZ.
Dick Cheney is that you???
Interesting thought. I am most certainly not pro-gay marriage, but being a former Prosecutor who has argued his fair number of Constitutional issues before SCOTUS and State and Federal Courts, I DO believe that it is a State issue and that the Fed Government should stay out of it.
Seconded.
Opposing homosexual marriage is not the same as hating homosexuals. Not condoning homosexuality is not the same as hating homosexuals.
There is a distinct difference.
Expressing your argument by using the term “hate” only serves to perpetuate the fallacious claims of the left, and you are unlikely to be well received with such expressions here.
I personally don’t care.
I am not for homosexual marriage. I am not against homosexual marriage. I am against government involvement in marriage in ANY form.
I tend to agree with those who cite the DEFINITION of marriage, but in the end, what I want is not what most people want so it’s all irrelevant. I just want the government out of the institution altogether.
Regardless of that, when you imply that conservatives are motivated by hate, you show that you are not, in fact, conservative. Otherwise you would know better.
Perhaps you should rephrase your query?
Change thousands of years of tradition for a lifestyle? That is not a conservative.
There are lots of OTHER websites.
Supporting gay marriage basically means that you have blown-off Western values - which is fine, but PLEASE don’t call yourself a conservative if you that is who you are.
No you don't!
Marriage simply recognizes the existence of a bonded pair, one male and one female, and is in line with "evolution". Any other belief is not in line with "evolution" and must be considered to be in serious error.
Eventually we will FIX this problem.
Uh oh, you’ve been “told on” by someone above me...
No such thing as “homo marriage”
IBTZ!
All individuals have their own opinions and they aren’t going to be the same as anyone. You have to prioritize and find out where standing up for the tranny and homo lobby fits in relation to the rest of your principles. The line has clearly been drawn in the sand. There are a few positions I share with the left as well, like legalizing drugs; however, since I don’t use them, it is pretty much on the bottom of my list.
well, bye.
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