A couple of events have unfolded over the past few weeks that have caused me to really wonder how far we've truly come as a society. People say that prejudice, bigotry and hatred are dwindling and according to polls the majority of the US population supports the LGBT community and marriage equality. You'd certainly never know it by looking at the very public actions taken by both individuals and legislatures recently. Indiana just passed a bill that will allow business owners to discriminate based on their religious beliefs and liberties, and an Orange County California attorney has proposed a ballot measure legalizing the execution of homosexuals by shooting them in the head. References to Nazi Germany are definitely overused these days, but I can't help but think about the hatred of the Jews, gypsies and homosexuals leading up to and during World War II and how much of the European society turned a blind eye until millions had been slaughtered. The holocaust went on for years before anything was done about it. Many thought it was horrible, but failed to stand up and fight against such bigotry and hatred because it really didn't have a direct impact on them. I can't help but see somewhat of a similarity when it comes to the aforementioned LGBT issues. According to the report on ABC News regarding the California attorney, it was not surprising that the LGBT coalition in the state legislature came out in vehement opposition. What struck me was that there was no mention of any other group that did so. I know such a ballot measure would surely never pass, and perhaps most people just wrote it off as the guy being an asshole, but really, where was the mainstream public outcry? Where was the public damnation of the ever present Westboro Baptist Church before they started picketing military funerals? And how to politicians who spew such old school KKK like bigotry masked under the guise of religious liberty get elected, or worse yet get re-elected? Do homosexuals have to start getting shot in the head before the public at large stands up and says "NO MORE!"? Maybe there are more people than anticipated who feel that might not be such a bad idea. I'd hate to think it so, but at this point in history I can't find any evidence this isn't the case. I certainly know many people who do stand up and fight for us, and I know I'm loved and accepted by my friends and some of my family. But I have to wonder if that will ever be enough to eradicate, or at least beat down such practices.
I forget how it goes, but I remember a poem about how they came for all these different minority groups and "I never stood up against it". The last stanza states something like "when they came for me there was no one left to stand up on my behalf". Are we going to go back to the days of segregation with gay and straight drinking fountains and bathroom facilities? Will lynchings of gay people become commonplace and just accepted as part of society? Just what does it mean to have religious liberty anyway? I always used to think that it meant each person was free to believe, or not believe, in whatever religion they choose and are able to do so without fear of persecution. But this doesn't seem to apply with those who try to force their beliefs on people who are different from them through laws and ordinances. Should church attendance be mandatory for everyone in order to be an "American"? If so, what church? To hear many fundamentalist and evangelical Christians talk, that certainly seems to be a predominant belief. Looking back through American history, where did anyone get the impression this country was founded on a particular religion? When I was growing up and going through school it was never taught that way at all. People incorrectly use the pledge of allegiance containing "under God" as an example because they have no idea those words were never included until the Eisenhower administration in the fifties as a result of the "red scare". I have to laugh when I hear religious people talk about the so called war on Christianity. I see absolutely no evidence such a thing actually exists. From my own perspective all I can see is their feeling of oppression because they can't force their beliefs and practices on everyone else. When people talk about the "gay agenda" and how the LGBT community wants to force its views on everyone else, I again have to laugh. All we want is the freedom to be ourselves and be accepted as being part of society. I have yet to hear any reasonable or logical argument to show exactly how my marrying the person I love has any impact whatsoever on anyone else's marriage. It's all so maddening, and sometimes quite frightening, to feel that there's no one out there able to stop such venomous, and I dare say sinful bigotry, judgement and hatred. When does it end? When does it become socially unacceptable to discriminate so blatantly against any group of people? Where is the line that says this far and no farther? Will there ever be such a thing? I just don't know anymore!
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