I Swear This is the Last Time I'm Bringing This Up...*

Believe it or not, politically, I'm actually kind of a moderate type. The far left makes me crazy with their inability to cope with reality and their unwillingness to let people fail, when, sometimes, people need to fail. I usually believe the answer to almost everything is somewhere in the middle, and wish we had more than two parties to choose from because I don't believe either extreme is going to lead us very well. I would be Libertarian except that I don't trust people to act honestly and with compassion. One of the reasons I went for Obama is that I believed he'd be better about uniting the two sides than McCain.

I also have the unfortunate luck to tend to see all sides of an issue, which isn't necessarily bad for a therapist, but can be difficult in the voting booth. I avoid getting directly involved in political debates because you have to get all extreme to make your point and I usually see everyone's point which, because I also avoid conflict like the plague, just makes me anxious and increases my trips to the bathroom.

I'm also a Catholic by birth, Christian by choice and Unitarian Universalist by practice. I love my country for many reasons, but one of the biggies is that I have religious freedom, and don't have to worry about anyone (except maybe my in-laws) coming down on me for switching to a faith that my heart tells me is the truth.

Unitarian Universalists believe that gay marriage is as sacred a union as heterosexual marriage. Sorry if that offends you, but that's what we believe. And for the first time, I have a cause I firmly, with no reservations, believe in.

I also believe that yesterday, California voters dealt a serious blow to the freedom of religion that we value so much in this country by including the religious beliefs of the majority into the state Constitution. That terrifies me. I think some people really want our government to be Christian excluding all others, and I think the rest didn't fully think through what they were voting for.

What if we decided to write into the Constitution that everyone should celebrate Christmas, or that the only REAL religious text is the New Testament? Ridiculous, right?

This is a bigger issue than gay marriage. Yes, I'm furious that Brittany Spears (no offense, Britt, I'm talking about your younger days, of course) can walk into a chapel high as a kite and legally marry some random old classmate and then realize the next day, "Oops. That was stupid," and get it annulled and everyone just rolls their eyes; but two elderly librarians who have been in a committed relationship for many years are told that Britt's 24-hour impulse is more valid, by definition and by law, than their relationship. Heck, it's so much more valid, simply because Britt is female and Jason Alexander is male, that we have to write it into our constitution.

I've always believed in equality and gay rights and have been against discrimination of all kinds. But we're talking about taking away more than the right to marry. This makes it a bigger issue for me now.

I've heard that some think that gay marriage could lead to people marrying dogs, or some such ridiculousness. Well, I think it's a lot more probable that including non-universal beliefs, based on taking the Bible literally, into our constitution will lead to restriction of religious freedom. And, even as a Christian, I've got a problem with that.

*...unless I think of something new to say.

Baffled

I'm baffled. I really am. As I've said before, I do understand that people think God has a negative opinion of homosexuality. I disagree, but I tend to disagree when someone tells me they know what God thinks about anything. Anyway, I'm assuming those are the people on the streetcorners as I drove home from work waving the "Yes on 8" signs. I'm assuming, and maybe I'm wrong, that California voters pushing for Prop 8 to pass really believe that there is something fundamentally so wrong with gay marriage that they need a constitutional amendment to make sure it doesn't happen.

But what baffles me is that in the middle of the yellow signs as I sat watching the group, there was one handmade signs that read: "We can disagree and still LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Yes on 8!"

I think it would be great if that were true. So, can someone explain how taking away a civil right from a group with whom you disagree is a loving act? That's a serious question.

I am so ready for this election to be over. I've found this election very anxiety-provoking and frightening. Really, people? This is the direction you think is right? This is the higher ground? This is what Jesus would want? I just hope that tomorrow we see goodness and civility win out.

Hey Hey, Ho Ho

We live near a road that runs along train tracks and trees. And this morning, each of those trees was festooned with a "Yes on 8" sign. Not for long, though, because G. got mad. He has no problem with people putting signs on their house or in their yards, but when they show up on public land that he as a taxpayer partially owns, sort of, well, he's gonna do something about it. So he took them down.

A few hours later, they were back up. G. took them down again. Tomorrow morning, I think it's my turn. Keep your goddamn homophobia and bigotry on private land.

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Those of you who have been paying attention on Facebook know that I am now an ordained minister of the Christian Glory Church. I've checked it out, and it's perfectly legal for me to perform marriage ceremonies in California. Some states get all rigid about it and say you have to have a congregation to be a minister, but the beauty of the Christian Glory Church is that they believe you can be a minister anywhere, like the supermarket or the park or the street corner. It's really all about taking it to the people.

I will henceforth be referred to as Rev. Dr. Lunasea. And I plan to preside at the marriage of Big Nephew and Girlfriend, once and for all, this weekend. As things have been going, though, I need to be really careful driving before then because it would fit the pattern perfectly if I ended up in the hospital and couldn't make it. My sister would have planned a wedding banquet with no wedding. Much like the wedding trip to the Dominican Republic with no wedding, and the trip to City Hall with no wedding.

Can I get an Amen?

No on 8, Please

The increasing energy that the "Yes on 8" campaign is getting here in California scares me.

I have a hard time understanding how its supporters, many of whom are conservatives and therefore supposedly in favor of less government interference in our lives, can rationalize inserting a religious belief into our state constitution.

What is marriage? It's a social contract, right? If it's performed in a church, it's also a religious covenant. So making a government-sanctioned social contract discriminatory towards anyone, it seems to me, would be wrong. Making a religious convenant only available to some people is a matter of that church and its members.

Saying only men can vote is wrong and it was changed. Saying only white people can vote is wrong and it was changed. Saying white people can only marry each other is wrong. Saying only heterosexual couples can marry is right along the same lines.

I understand that some people think God has an opinion on homosexuality. I disagree, but they're certainly entitled to their beliefs. But when they start messing around with my constitutional rights, I have a problem.