Journal coupland's Journal: #1 Reason to Hate the Religious Right 3
What I love about this election is that when all the political pundits had had their say, they agreed that the deciding factor in this election was "moral issues." The war in Iraq turned into a big red herring, with both candidates promising more of the same, but Kerry promising little more than to feel bad about it. The election came down to gay marriage and abortion.
You heard that right, folks. The "moral issues" in this election were gay marriage and abortion. The illegal invasion of a sovereign state that resulted in the deaths of 100,000 Iraqis never even figured on the morality bill. So what "moral issues" were at stake? Quite simply:
1. Whether or not we can forbid gays from marrying, and
2. Whether or not we can forbid a woman from making choices about her body.
How on earth did veto power over other people's moral choices become a platform advocating morality?
Don't get me wrong, I'm only mildly in support of gay marriage, and I'm very wishy-washy on abortion. I think it's totally warranted in some circumstances, but I'm not fond of it as a replacement for wearing a rubber. But I am not the ultimate power in the land. And I wouldn't presume to force my opinion on others. In situations like this the mature thing to do, the moral thing to do, is to err on the side of tolerance. Yet somehow this election equated "forcing your opinion down other peoples' throats" with "morals" and the murder of 100,000 Iraqis as a mere blip on the radar. I know that God doesn't exist because if he did, he would fry these hypocrites where they stand.
Indeed (Score:1)
The Christian Fundies are trying to force their morals on the rest of us by infiltration of our government, which I find despicable.
Their typical argument of, "But you're imposing your morals on us too!" is invalid, because no one is forcing them to engage in gay marriage or abortion. On the other hand, they would force the rest of us to abide by their code, limiting our rights. Being a gay man, I would very much like to have some acknowledgement from the government, not treated like a second-class citizen
Re:Indeed (Score:2)
Yeah here's a sampling of the typical paradoxical and circular reasoning these people use:
"I don't have to be tolerant of [ gays | muslims | evolutionists | women who've had an abortion ] because God is on my side."
Oh isn't that nice? The almighty of the universe is on your side. And how do I know he's on your side? Because you told me so. Isn't that lovely for you?
"I don't mind gays, I just can't stand how they flaunt their sexual preference in public."
Oh, and heterosexuals don't flaunt their sex