Letters to the Editor
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K
That you would characterize my unwillingness to support a candidate for President who doesn't believe in the equality of all people as an "attack" fails to address the obvious: either you're equal or you're not.
He's saying that he is willing to suppress his personal beliefs for those of the nation...
No, he's not. He's saying:
"I was reminded that it is my obligation not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society, but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided."
Why would an educated, progressive African-American civil rights attorney in the year 2007 have to remain open to some "possibility" that denying equality to all people is "misguided"? He's saying that he sees no problem with denying the humanity of some, pending a persuasive argument to the contrary. The persuasive argument already exists: all people are equal.
And Obama's even wrong about what he doesn't support; there's no such thing as "gay marriage". Marriage is marriage. What Obama opposes is marriage equality.
Talk about tradition, talk about 'ownership' of the term, and you will lose.
Good thing I'm doing the opposite, then, I guess. I don't care about "tradition" and I don't care who thinks they own what words. My point is that the bigots don't own marriage. Religion doesn't own marriage. And as long as the state owns marriage -- and it always will -- it must be open to all. Because all people are equal.
First of all, there is no social advancement tied to marriage like there is to education- benefits promised are benefits received.
This is so obviously wrong as to be mind-boggling. Of course, there is social advancement tied to marriage. That, of course, is the entire point of marriage. The over one thousand rights that marriage confers are entirely about a certain class of coupled people (the married) having more rights than any other type of coupled people. If it has no social significance, why do the bigots insist that marriage define everything from when and with whom you get to have sex to the validity of any given family? Quick, someone tell all those generations of "unwed mothers" that they were stigmatized for nothing.
Rightly or wrongly, the institution of marriage is all about social advancement. But who cares? We don't dole out equality based on how the person whose equality is recognized will benefit. We recognize equality because all people are equal.
If Barack Obama can't figure that out, I can't support his candidacy.