Misplaced Anger

Alright. Time to speak up.

On November Fourth of this year, the Voters of California passed (endorsed) a State Constitutional Amendment which strictly defined marriage as between one man and one woman. That's it. There was nothing about trampling civil rights, discriminatory endorsement, homophobic prevarications, etc. The amendment very simply states that a recognized marriage was between a man and a woman.

Instead of taking the defeat in stride and planning a new approach which might steer them towards acceptance, the gay community decided that they would stomp their feet and act like little children who didn't get their way. They started throwing a collective temper tantrum. They looked to blame everybody and everything for the defeat, and began inciting the very things which they themselves are fighting against--hate, violence, misinformation, disinformation, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, etc.

While not everyone in the gay community participated in these events, nor did they endorse them, the fact is that calls for tolerance and peace were ignored by a majority of their community in favor of slander, bigoted rhetoric, verbal and written vilification against those who choose to feel differently, verbal and written harassment, physical harassment, defacement of places of worship, etc. Where is the "tolerance" the gay community so desperately advocates? Where is the love they espouse and have forced others to recognize? Where is the respect for the democratic process which they have been properly using to make the changes they seek?

Yes, the failure of proposition 8 was a stinging blow to those who seek equality. But to react to the defeat with the very hate they have been fighting against will do nothing but impair the gay communities' ability to finally achieve the acceptance they seek.

Additionally, two things rankle me about this whole thing. First, critics of the defeat rail on about how the Mormon Church took away their rights. What the #@&%!!!
This disinformation is pathetic at best. The Mormon Church did no such thing. The Church Leadership asked its members in California to donate time and money to defeating the measure. As far as I am aware, the Church itself donated NOTHING to that end.

However, a grass-roots effort by church members throughout the state of California heeded that call, donating many personal hours, and millions of California dollars to see that Proposition 8 was passed. Why? Because these registered California voters feel strongly in the millenia old tradition of marriage as between a man and a woman. Plain, and very simple. Beyond Church leadership saying, We'd like you to get involved in this issue, they played no role. Again, only registered voters in the State of California took an active role, as is their Federally Constitutionally mandated right to do so.

Members of the gay community completely misrepresent the facts regarding the involvement of the Mormon Church, choosing instead to spread the disinformation of lies, hate, claims of homophobia, etc, and turned the heart of Proposition 8 from one of a simple definition to one of an attack of civil rights against gays.

Wow. That just boggles my mind. But again, the worst part of this is the very hate they are fighting they are themselves using as a tool against anyone who voted against their wishes.

I've got news for you folks. This is nothing but hypocritical, and will only lead to more adversity in your fight. You used the democratic process and lost. So what? Do it again, and again, and again until you DO win.

Secondly, the national media is jumping on the bandwagon of this wave of hate and intolerance against the "terrible" heterosexual voters and the Mormon Church (and anyone else who supported passage of Proposition 8). Instead of using the proper journalistic morals and writing fair, balanced stories, the media (print, tv, radio, internet, etc) are acting like little sheep and following the shepherd (in this case, the gay community) along the trail like little obedient sheep.

They concentrate on telling the nation (and the world) what a terrible thing the passage of Proposition 8 is, and that some 18,000 "couples" are now denied their rights and freedoms, is irresponsible at best.

Where is the media outcry for those whose businesses and lives have been targets of hate because they chose to participate in the democratic process and voted with their conscience?

Where has the media spoken out against the defacement of sacred religious properties, which acts should clearly be labeled as religious intolerance and hate crimes?

I read report after report about how "wronged" the gays are. But not once have I read any opinion or perspective on why the majority of California voters stated that marriage is between a man and a woman. No one has asked them. Why? Why is THEIR opinion unimportant? Why is their viewpoint irrelevant?

Why is the media NOT vilifying those who are acting hatefully against the proponents of Proposition 8? Why are they defending those who would strip the Constitutional rights of the citizens of California that had the audacity to vote in favor of the definition?

This whole thing is beyond unconscionable. It shows me that this nation is on a VERY slippery slope which, if allowed to continue, will eventually lead to the stripping away of rights, and the establishment of religious intolerance and bigotry. How can we, as a people, allow this to happen? How can the media (as a whole) perpetuate this problem by condoning irresponsible journalism and allowing themselves to be manipulated by a small group, turning a simple wording into a national tragedy?

Personally, I think that the approval of gay marriage is an inevitability. In the mean time, why do those who fight for it spread the same hate and fear that they themselves have battled all their lives for? Why must they wrongly target individuals, business and religions that don't agree with with the choices of a small minority?

The United States of America was founded as a refuge; as a place where differing viewpoints could live side by side; as a place where people could speak their minds and vote their conscience without fear of intimidation or retribution.

It would seem that the gay community would, in their fight for acceptance and equality, turn their backs on the history which has given them the ability to speak out and defend that what they hold dear. They are even now inciting the very same intimidation and retribution which the Founding Fathers sought to eliminate with the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.

Yes, we are on a VERY, VERY slippery slope, and are quickly approaching the edge of the proverbial cliff. What will happen now? Will we fall? Or will we survive?