Chaos, Panic Disorder . . .

Figured I might as well post this seperately since I came across something very, very good. First the quote:

"On 10/19/09 at 9:23 AM, ConvivialVisits wrote:

Standing for fairness and equality under our laws is what good people across America have done for hundreds of years. And throughout our history, naysayers and pessimists have been with us, every step of the way, predicting doom and destruction for whatever expansion of rights, inclusion of groups, or extension of protections has been debated.

They have consistently failed in their efforts to exclude citizens from the table of rights and responsibilities mature adults enjoy. And we have consistently failed to disintegrate as a country. It failed to happen in 1865, it failed to happen in 1920, it failed to happen in 1967, it failed to happen in 1968, it failed to happen in 1973, it failed to happen in 2003, and it will fail to happen when same sex marriage is legal in all 50 states.

I see all of the negative energy being spent on these message boards, condemning a people who are only asking to be treated fairly and justly under our laws. We are not asking for your acceptance, we are not asking for your approval. We are asking for equal protection under the law.

As history has shown, we are right in our struggle, and we will be victorious. I make no predictions regarding the November vote; it is my sincere hope that love and understanding will overcome hostility and fear. But the outcome of this vote in no way changes the outcome of this struggle. Marriage WILL be legal for all consenting adult couples, and our country WILL be better for it.

I had an opportunity earlier this year to talk to folks gathering signatures for this referendum, and I left with an understanding that these aren't evil people who are opposing my rights.

In many cases, these are people who have grown afraid of a world that doesn't look much like the one they grew up in, and so when social changes are put before them they react in a way that tries to keep things as they've always been.

In some cases they feel that homosexuality is wrong, but I'm not going to change their mind on that by getting angry about it. Instead I try to be approachable, so folks can understand that there are far more things we agree on and have in common, and we don't need to let our differences divide us.

Vote NO on 1, and uphold our nation's tradition of inclusiveness, equality, and understanding.

Vote NO on 1, knowing the religious are protected by this good law, and all Maine families deserve the ability to marry.

Vote NO on 1, because the referendum doesn't even address the concerns of its supporters.

Vote NO on 1, in the hopes that we can move past these unnecessary barriers and confront the real problems of the world together.

Vote NO on 1, knowing that future generations of Mainers will take pride in how we again led the way to equality for all citizens."

Now to explain. You see, the state passed a law allowing same sex marriages. Shortly thereafter the religion nutjobs (and, unfortunately the Catholic Church was right at the forefront, scripture in hand,) decided we needed to get rid of it. So, enough signatures later, it's on the ballot and worded in the way all trick questions are. If you want to see the exact wording you can click on this link that'll take you to the .pdf page where the entire ballot is displayed - The question is the first one. That's the question. (This is the article from our local newspaper.)

I could go off on my own rant about this whole issue (technically I did way back when the religious nutjobs were trying and, sadly, defeated California's gay marriage bill. I read most of the comments until they became so stupid it was rotting my brain. Each side gave 'evidence' to their point (those wanting to vote no made the most sense, those wanting to vote yes misquoted the bible or hid behind theological rhetoric instead of giving concrete, non bigoted and just ideas.) In a nutshell the biggest thing was we shouldn't give 'special rights' to gays and that no one should have special rights (this also came up when the bill was being passed, I think, either that or during CA's problems, I can't remember which now.) I guess that means that we have to undo some amendments that have passed. How about the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)? How about the little known Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974? Or what about all the Civil Rights acts? Go back a bit further and what about the Suffrage Movement? Aren't those special rights? Didn't we tell disabled people you have the special right to be treated as a human being? Didn't we tell the Vietnam vets that you have special rights to be rehired even if you fought in a war most people didn't agree with? Didn't we tell blacks that yes, you are special because you are equal with whites? Didn't we tell women that yes, you are equal to man and now have the special rights to vote?

I guess not. Those on the yes side seem to think that the above examples are not special rights but equal rights. They are equal rights but they are special rights too. Special rights are something not given to a group of people that suddenly they have access to. Equality is just one of the facets of it. But, most would rather hide under their bibles and believe that stories written a thousands of years ago, to a people who no longer exist, in a language that had to be discovered, cracked and finally given an equal context in our own language, with a society structure that no longer exists and think the world hasn't changed.

Then again, these are the same people who, apparently, got the board shut down for a while last night advocating violence against gays. (If you want to read about the incident they were supporting, you can go here.) Makes me wonder how the world has survived as long as it has. It really, really does.

It also makes me wonder when people will start to realize that organized religion and true faith are two different things and understand that hatred, racism, bigotry and other negative values have no place in the world. THEN maybe people will start getting along and we'll really see their version of heaven on earth?

Next post will be a generic one, not a soapbox one, I promise. Really, I do.