There is something disturbing about this subject and it is not the subject itself so much as the human dynamics that currently drives it.
I am willing to concede that it is possible that 2100 years of Christian history and 6000 years of recorded history has left a genetic memory in me that unfairly prevents me from seeing the "goodness" in change of any kind.
But it's not that simple; this "survey" gives me a clue.
Reading the title of this post induced a series of negative responses in my mind. One liners incisively to garnish the self-destructive nature of the story, instinctively assuming that the nature of Brides creates a chasm that no amount of good intentions or charitable impulses can span. At least not in my mind.
It deals with the nature of consensus; of give and take; of the social contract in its most abstract form.
In the very nature and meaning of words that have since time began and since man has become civilized, meant something specific and real and important. Words like tolerance, acceptance, nobility, charity, good and evil.
As most of us have, I also have had many discussions over my life as to the inherent nature of man.
Most of my life I have been solidly on the side of inherently evil, subject to accomodation in order to satisfy the demands of the social contract and of conscience, so far as it can influence us to a lesser or greater extent.
What struck me finally about this event is that the "poll" seems to be a smooth, shiny mirror reflecting good intentions, hanging on a rotting and crumbling wall, leaving no room for gray, only black and white, and it implicitly bludgeons me to choose one side or the other.
No middle ground is allowed.
The stark contrast between the concept of tolerance and the personal involvement of charity and the idea of free will is no longer a human choice. It has become a commodity, dispensed by law, dictated by unseen spirits somewhere about whom I have no clue, but which I resist with every fiber of my being because I insist on going to my grave still grasping that absolute belief that we are different from animals.
We are all imperfect. We all have flaws which affect society. Fortunately, we all do not rearrage the universe to accomodate our flaws, and do not insist that the laws of reason or language be reshaped to make us feel better about ourselves.
The story is not yet done. The world has gone mad, but still there can be souls which, without bitterness, or the need to lash out, can choose the other path.