By Phil Eastman
[Ed. note: This guest post was submitted in response to the Nov. 17 - 23, 2008 prompt of the week.]
The past two weeks in California have been rife with mixed emotions, misdirected anger, and a fervent vilification of the Mormon Church. Gays are angry. Families are angry. Non-homosexuals are angry. Is it really possible that California--what is thought to be one of the most liberal states in the country--voted to deprive a minority group of its basic civil right to marry?
You're damn right.
California citizens are finally waking up to the fact that it they are not immune to the religious fervor supposedly relegated to residents of the Midwest, as well as the political decisions that are swayed by "the word of God." Yup, California's got Deliverance-style yokels just like the rest of 'em. It's been well-publicized that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints contributed more than $22 million toward Prop 8. support funding, including robo-calls to inner-city neighborhoods claiming Obama's support for Prop. 8 (lie), as well as prime-time smear ads that claimed Prop. 8 would prevent elementary school children from being forced to learn about gay marriage in school (Gasp!). To many citizens it seems, the act of homosexuality is a "choice," a lifestyle embedded in sin, and one that--despite most major religions preaching compassion as a universal truth--deserves punishment.
I've taken part in numerous protests in the past few weeks, and though I've long held the notion that public demonstration is an antiquated means to social and political progression, the spectacle alone seems to be creating a dialogue absent in the final days before the election. Perhaps many of our liberal hope were consolidated so deeply in the Obama camp that gay rights were overlooked in California, but at least now people are creating a dialogue through candle lit vigils, online petitions and gatherings of voices.
"My parents voted for Prop. 8, knowing that I am gay," a co-worker told me recently. "I don't know if I can forgive them for that. But every time I march, every time I go out there and hold out my sign, I just have to tell myself that what I am doing is going to be get people talking, and thinking more deeply about this this vote affects the lives of so many in a negative way."
Some of my colleagues scoff at the marchers as doing too little too late, one can't deny that day after day, week after week, they just keep marching. And I hope that they never cease, that the noise becomes deafening to the ears of churchgoers deceived by the notion that a God beckons them to deprive others of love, to deny others of the right to create a family, and to project hate upon their fellow beings. One mind changed is one step forward toward equal rights for all.
"My religion is simple. My religion is kindness." — Dalai Lama
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