Gay Marriage In New York

New York is voting on whether or not legalize same sex marriage. It's passed their state Assembly, and is in their Senate. They were supposed to end their legislative session today, but it looks like they will be there for most of the week.

I'm hoping it will pass (and it looks like it just might) because if New York accepts gay marriage, it will do a lot for the cause as a whole. New York is the third most populous state, and contains the most populous city (New York City). If they legalize gay marriage it will be a huge step for this country.

Of course, there are protesters to try and stop the bill. There are also counter protesters, and that makes me much happier about the whole thing. The protesters are praying and chanting "God says 'No!'". One protester even said if they pass this law, we will become Sodom and Gomorrah.

What?

Do they not realize that legally we can't legislate religious beliefs? It doesn't matter what 'God' says, this is not a mother fucking theocracy. If you want to gripe about something within the law, bring a secular reason! Your religion has no legal standing to make decisions for this country, or its citizens. I actually challenge you to give me a secular reason homosexuals should not be allowed to marry. Try. Think hard. And "Because I don't like/understand/participate in it." is not a good reason. (Also, it does happen in nature (like we aren't part of nature?) so that's a shit answer too!)

This is the kind of bullshit I'm so tired of seeing. You can practice your religion, you can hate homosexuals, non-whites, women, whoever the fuck you want to hate, but you can't force that point of view on others! This is why we progressives call you bigots. This is why we say you are homophobic. This is why we call you bible thumpers. If you don't like those names, quit being so damn deserving of them. Learn that we are all people, and we all deserve the Exact. Same. Rights.

On a related note, I read a few of the comments left by readers on that news article. My favorite had to be this little gem,

You would think that jobs and the economy would be more important to the citizens of New York than this?

What a stupid comment. People care about equal rights and love just as much, if not more, than the economy. I would focus more on getting my rights than other peoples jobs if it were my ability to marry the love of my life on the line. Especially since there is no real justification to deny that right. 

I hope in only a few years we will view this as the equivalent of  denying blacks or women the right to vote. Or denying interracial marriage. Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

The Reverend's Rants: Only White Males Need Apply

Welcome to another installment of The Reverend's Rants! Today I talk about how the Mormon church hates all non-white, non-male members!



Feel free to leave your comments below, I always enjoy intelligent discussion!

The Reverend's Rants: Hiding Your Bigotry

This is a new segment I'm adding. Twice a week (I'm shooting for Tuesdays and Thursdays) I will be uploading an audio file of me ranting about whatever. Feel free to provide feedback, comment, etc. You know, the usual.

This Podcast is about hiding your bigotry behind 'but'. I'm not a racist, but... It's also a test to make sure I got this whole thing working. Please, to enjoy!

Question The American Flag? How Dare You!

I was on Facebook the other day and I noticed someone had linked this. It's a poll to ask you if the American flag should be banned-in America. I didn't answer it because it's an absurd question, and also because it was on Fox news. It seemed like a random question, and I was unable to find a link to another story to explain it. Long story short I was informed of it's relationship to this story. Well, of course, there is more to that story than kids being kicked out of school for wearing the American flag. They were kicked out for being racist pricks. I got into an argument with a commenter on that post, and of course, he was all about loving 'Merica and the flag. So I wanted to take a moment here and point some things out.

All students there had been asked to not wear any flags at all (that means American, Mexican, Estonian, etc) on Cinco De Mayo because of all the tensions it caused the year before. These 5 decided they were going to break the rules and then hide behind their 'patriotism'. They were using the flag as a smoke screen to justify making other students feel inferior, unwanted, and unimportant.

That is what upsets me the most about this story. We will totally allow racism if it's wrapped in an American flag. We won't look past the flag detail and see the rest of the story. "We love the flag! We are 'Mericans! Fuck other cultures! Fuck making public schools places where all the students feel safe! 'Merica!" It's sickening. These boys knew exactly what they were doing. They were going to defy the school's decision, let those damn Mexicans know who's in charge of this country, and openly display their hate and bigotry. Then they let the flag shield them from all the consequences.

And it worked. The right wing saw them as heroes. They were touted as champions of the 1st amendment. What is wrong with people? These boys are bigots, and they were punished as they were told they would be. They were entirely in the wrong. 'Patriotism' should not be used as magic armor from criticism.

Using your 'patriotism', or your faith for that matter, to hide your bigotry is always disgusting. It is a cowards move and it only fools those with the same diminished mental capacity as the person doing it. Wake up and look past your blinders of stars and stripes and see the actual injustice done. Not everyone waving the flag deserves respect. Not everyone with a cross is a good person.