Religious Bias Deconstructed

TODAY IS ELECTION DAY!!!...And everyone has the jitters, including the very groups that picked this battle to begin with. the Family Policy Council, yet another Maine anti-gay policy group, has issued a statement about the uncertain outcome of today's election and their long view on the the fight against gay marriage. The editorial is credited to a "staff writer"...Whenever conservatives decline to put there name on a document like this or post a nasty YouTube video under a pseudonym without showing their true name and face, I pretty much take it as an admission that on some level they are afraid that what they are asserting is wrong and that they are unconsciously ashamed of it. If anything in this article was worth the time it took to write then why can't they own up to it? If they fear personal attack, then perhaps they should not venture into the world of public opinion. Sadly, for gay people, we don't have the option to not participate. We have to put our opinions, stories, and real identities out there. If we don't, people like this editorialist feel free to continue painting us as villains and anarchists.

The original flaming bag of dog poo*....er...article is posted over at their websitewww.mainefamilypolicycouncil.com but I am breaking it down here to make the differences in our messages clear.

P.S...I apologize in advance for the length of posts like these but I think It helps to take their message apart and look at the thoughts and ideas that make up their world view.

Many years of effort have been expended in the battle to save marriage and the family. Our opponents wisely chose to pursue their goal of gay marriage in piecemeal fashion. After decades of pursuing more modest goals, they decided in the final hour to reveal the Holy Grail of their movement, gay marriage.

Ah, dear anonymous editorialist, The Holy Grail of our movement is NOT gay marriage. Marriage is only one piece of the puzzle. Full equality and treatment under the law AND society is the goal. We pray for the day we can walk down a street that our taxes help pay for, holding the hand of the one we love and NEVER have to worry that we will hear the word "faggot" or fear being beaten in the street. We pray that our loves will not be looked on as "less than" by our families, coworkers, and fellow citizens. Our goal is to have our commitments honored with the same joy and our families treated with the same respect. I want to go to a my daughters preschool and not have to answer the question of the other parents, "Who selena's daddy?" We pray for the day when we no longer have to face hysteria over a children's book with gay characters. We pray for the day when Gay movies don't only have to play in the arthouse theaters under an "R" rating like a dirty secret. In short...our "Holy Grail" is to live our lives out in the sun...just like you...and not have to fear your stares, your words, or your clenched fist. This is all we want, and marriage is only on tiny piece of that bigger dream. But, Once again you, and others like you, show that you chose not to understand us even the tiniest little bit. You prefer to see us as shadowy villains threatening you rather than as human beings, with motivations just like yours.

Today, the outcome of the vote on homosexual marriage is in doubt. It is natural that some on our side are discouraged and worried about the future. The other side does possess astonishing advantages. The gay marriage movement is highly-organized and uses the newest methods of technology. They are well-funded and have outspent the pro-marriage side more than two to one. Moreover, on Election Day they will send more people to the polls.

Yes..the future of our marriages IS in doubt and you are not the only ones facing and unknown future with worry and discouragement. In this, both our sides are the same. Its hard to believe in the basic power of love being present in all human beings and then see their actions. Its enough to make us all shake our heads and wonder.

In addition, I wish we were half as well organized as your side always claims. To make real impact it has taken the time and money of everyday people, putting aside their personal pursuits and digging into their already cash strapped wallets to support something they deeply believe in. We often don't have the support of organizations as huge and well funded as the Mormon or Catholic church. Its just us and we wont stand down anymore.

That we use the "latest in technology" is something of a field leveler I think. We also don't have the benefit of acceptance in the media that you have. Often Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and other online assets are all we have to work with.

Our blunders have added to their advantages. The leaders of the pro-family movement shied away from quoting the Bible in public for fear of being perceived as 'haters' by their neighbors. For this reason, the public failed to see the profound evil which lurks behind the homosexual rights movement. We should not be surprised if many of us are called to pay a price for our lack of fidelity to our deepest principles.

If your deepest principles were truly loved by yourself and those who claim to follow them...there would be no fear to speak out on them. Its your internal doubt that causes that hesitation. If you truly believe in your interpretation of the Bible why would it matter that you got called "haters"? I believe I know why...you are concerned about swaying the opinions of a populace that doesn't necessarily believe the way you do. If you truly believe in what you espouse there should be no problem bringing it into the light of day for all to examine...much like gay people are asked to do everyday in a society that treats them like oddities. Maybe it's time for Christians to "come out" too. That you continue to call us a "lurking evil" is exactly why you wont bring your message to the light of day.

One advantage possessed by our side is that homosexual marriage has never been approved by the voters of any state. Another factor in the election is the growing distrust of government. Most of the ballot questions are intended to reverse poor decisions made in Augusta. We may call this backlash the "Tea Party Factor," and it may lead to an unexpected result in the election.

One point to you...you were able to succeed in taking a civil rights issue and subject it to a majority vote. And yet everyday your leaders cry about the "noose" tightening around their necks. We all know the reasons gay marriage failed in "other states"(California). Its because everyone just expected gay marriage to pass and so, did nothing to defend it. Meanwhile, your campaign blasted the public with messages of fear and misinformation, very unlike the "truth" you purport to represent.

There is yet another factor which has been overlooked, one which should give us great encouragement, because it ensures the final defeat of homosexual marriage in the very near future. The argument for same sex marriage is based on an illusion, and all illusions inevitably fail.

Um...I feel like I stepped into a bad version of planning an assault on the "Death Star". I hate to break it to you but we don't have a handy exhaust port you can lob a proton torpedo down and earn instant victory. Love is what we share together as gay couples....just like your relationships. Love is the ground of all that is true. Love is NEVER an illusion and what you count as our weakness is, in fact, our strength.

It is necessary for the same sex marriage side to create the illusion of wide public support. This is done by calling on celebrities, hired experts, and top government officials to supply the support which is lacking among the people. Thus, in the last week of the campaign, the Attorney General and the Governor spoke in favor of homosexual marriage.

Interesting...this sounds much like the out of state professor you placed in one of you first "Yes on 1" ads...paid experts indeed. Also, just as gay marriage lacks in broad support from the American people...so does extremist religious views. That's why the poles are split so evenly. If you had as much popular support as you claim...there would be no fight.

Also..accusing the Attorney General and Governor of being called in for their celebrity status dishonors these men greatly. May it not also be possible that they made their statements in favor of gay marriage because they are elected to support the rights of ALL their citizens...not merely a privileged few? I'm sick of hearing the tired complaints of religionists claiming that the government is "taking away religious freedom", especially when those complaints are made against laws that ensure that same freedom. And just because you have lost a tiny bit of control over the government you have previously held a stranglehold on, is not a reason to claim persecution. That simply sounds like a petulant child complaining after being told "no" for the first time.

Opposed to this illusion, are the faithful witness of God's Word and the natural wisdom of the people regarding marriage and the family. Together these are an invincible combination.

Holy Writ used to oppress the populace is not invincible..it is what Jesus stood against in his lifetime....He opened the door for people to come to GOD. He did not hang a sign outside it that said..."except the gays."

And What you call The "natural wisdom of the people" has been used before to prevent others from achieving their due civil liberties( I.E. Loving Vs. Virginia). This is nothing more than "mob rule". The people DO have wisdom, and they laid it out in the constitution to protect the rights of the few from being trampled upon by the rights of the many...That was a wise act of prevention on their parts to protect us, as Americans, from ourselves.

Also opposed to this illusion is the growing awareness among the public that liberalism is a failed experiment. The same forces which support homosexual marriage have given us a society plagued by social disorder. To the long list of social disruptions -- the breakdown of the family, rampant crime, and the highest incarceration rate in the world -- the liberal establishment now asks us to add the absurdity of homosexual marriage. Homosexual marriage will only further destabilize a gravely wounded society.

Ah yes...its easier to lump things together. It makes them easier to demonize isn't it? Easy...and lazy. Blaming the gays "secret agenda" and the Liberals for all your problems keeps you blind to the real causes of those problems. To find the blame for the breakdown of the family you need look no farther than your own divorces. If heterosexuals had to do without marriage for while, then maybe they would understand why its so valuable in the first place and divorce would be a last option...not the first one, as it was in my family and the family of every straight friend I have ever had.

To lump rampant crime in this list is to take a shot at gay people as a corrosive force on society. Sorry..but not gonna work. Most people with more than one brain cell to rub together know that crime has NOTHING to do with homosexuality. To make this assertion is asinine and only further encourages violent actions against gays.

Highest Incarceration rate? That's because we are Jailing people now for offenses best corrected in other ways and NOT EXECUTING them. I know...I know...your all for killing the bad guys, But that's not the point here. Don't blame societies compassion on the gays...again, they are two different things.

And yes, society IS wounded. Everyday we bleed out because a subclass of American citizens are not given their due rights under the United States Constitution. Until America lives up to its claims of freedom and democracy she will continue to bleed.

Further, the opponents of same sex marriage do not view homosexual 'marriage' as merely an ill-advised social policy, they view it as a mistake which threatens the further existence of society; and for this reason, they will make heroic efforts to see it defeated.

You can use your fear of the gay bogeyman to justify your stalwart support of discrimination till the end of time. However, granting Tax paying U.S. citizens there due rights can only affirm the meaning of all our country holds dear...NOT destroy it. And rest assured that we as gay people will be there with the same level of dedication that you claim to have...and we have much more to lose than you...Hope you brought your "A" game.

All this points to the certain defeat of gay marriage, if not now, then in the near future. If we win today, we must not be too elated. If we lose, we will not be cast down. With either outcome, we must steel ourselves for a protracted battle. It is a battle we will inevitably win, because truth is on our side, and time as well.

All your doomcasting aside...gay marriage may be defeated...it may not. We will fight as hard as we can to see the day when all Americans are treated equally and never have to fear for there safety and happiness in their own country. I think you better check just whose closet "truth" is really hiding in.

If we lose, we will do as we have always done. Pick up our bruised and broken bodies, bury our dead, reaffirm the hope in our hearts and fight on because we know that you won't stop until you have made our lives a criminal offense.