How to brainwash in six easy steps:
Step 1: Craft misleading petition campaigns that put the civil rights of gays and lesbians up to a popular vote.
Step 2: Tell lies about how kids in school will be taught gay marriage
Step 3: Tell lies about how religious freedoms will be repealed if marriage equality is allowed.
Step 4: Take massive amounts of money from religious institutions to finance your campaign built on lies and then lie again claiming you got it from "concerned citizens".
Step 5: tell more lies about how all gays and lesbians who want to marry are actually "radical homosexual activists" who want nothing more than to destroy marriage.
Step 6: Rinse and repeat as neccesary
Guess where we will see this played out again?.......New Hampshire!
Hey wait a minute....didn't their marriage equality law already take effect? Why yes dear reader it did, on January first in fact. Man...cant they just let people be happy and move on with their lives? No apparently they can't...or won't. For them this is a reason to be...a cause to give them purpose....its culture war, that absurd term that implies that culture somehow belongs to them. So, fresh out the chapel, newlywed gays now have to face the possibility of yet another ballot initiative fight to retain the rights recently granted them. Not that we should be surprised....At this point we should expect it as a matter of course. We've been down this road enough times to know that this is going to happen time and time again in every state in which they can force it to a vote.
According to The Unionleader.com this effort has been months in preparation and is spear headed by Republican Rep. David Bates :
A state representative from Windham is leading an effort to bring a constitutional amendment on gay marriage to voters this fall.Says Bates:
Oh...but thats not all New Hampshire Republicans have in store for New Hampshires gays and lesbians:
"This is in response to the law which took effect Jan. 1 that redefined marriage to include homosexual relationships," Bates said in his e-mail. "The question voters will be asked on March 9 is intended to determine the will of the New Hampshire voters concerning the marriage debate."
A bill is coming to the Legislature this year to repeal the law, and a group of three Republicans has proposed a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.Charming wedding gift no? I hope they saved the reciept because we've already got more constitutional bans than we can handle. besides, wouldn't a toaster oven or bread maker be more appropriate? Just sayin...I think It would be an unconscionable crime to grant marriage rights, then snatch them away....again.
CACR 28, sponsored by Dudley D. Dumaine, R-Auburn, proposes an amendment that says, "The State shall only recognize as marriage, whether in name or effect, the union of one man and one woman."
A constitutional amendment must be approved by a three-fifths, or 60 percent majority in the Legislature before it can go to voters in the fall.
No word yet on any affiliations with NOM but you can bet it won't be long before we do and then we will also see the above steps played out in vitually identicle form to Maine and California. Lets hope this thing doesn't get past the petition stage.
There is hope though, in the form of Mo Baxley of New Hampshire Freedom To Marry who's feeling are thus:
In closing I would like to present a Youtube video from Israel that Jay recently brought to my attention. I think this sums the situation up nicely that when we fight a monster we are in danger of becoming a monster. This is a message to NOM and those who use hatred and lies to incite fear in the general public...this video is what can happen to you if you continue to go down such a negative and hurtfull road.
"People should not seek to impose their personal religious views on others and should not spend taxpayers' money doing so. It certainly doesn't change anything. Couples are married. They're going to stay married and I think there are probably better things for folks to focus on,"
There are few things in this world that cause me anger and frustration. This is not one of them, instead these petitions filled with ignorance and fear do nothing but make me sad and ashamed to be part of the human race.
ReplyDeleteI have been to middle America and seen poverty there that is akin to the poverty I saw in Mexico. Churches who seem so bent on "preserving the sanctity of marriage" ignore so many issues that tear families apart, poverty, lack of education and fear. I guess without these things some churches may not have much of a foundation to build a congregation on.
Churches such as the United Church and some others who support equality even as an Atheist, I see their benefits. I just wish their voices were louder. I guess those who are most scared scream the loudest.
Sorry for the complicated rant but topics like this turn my thoughts into scribbles.
New Hampshire needs to look at Connecticut, where same sex marriage has been legal for over a year.
ReplyDeleteThese marriages have happened and are still happening. Our children aren't hypnotized and "turning gay". The fires of hell haven't swallowed up our state. God still loves us and the Earth is still in one piece.
To some, gay marriage is like pulling a band-aid off your skin. You think it's going to hurt but once it's over and done with, you realize that it didn't hurt so bad after all. The only ones it actually hurts are the ignorant, who have no business in being in someone's private marriage and life in the first place.
They say there is a saying in Asia: “Nothing is done until it's all done.” Apparently, even when it's all done, it's not really done in the United States of America... That's the beauty of this country: it always keeps you on your toes, it's always full of surprises and all the bullshit that was exposed numerous times, but people still remain faithful to... God only knows what. I guess, nothing is done until it is added to the Constitution of the United States as yet another Amendment #28... I just hope it won't take 200 years between proposal and enactment, like it happened with 27th Amendment... Otherwise, any amendments ever done to any laws, including State Constitutions, would be easily amended themselves, and this vicious cycle of amending anything people simply don't like will never go away.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, New Hampshire, Crappy Freaking 2010!
Bryan, I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything you do here on this blog and how glad I am that you can bring to light all the crap that is going on after gay marriage rights are granted. It's sad that just when you think you've won, you have another setback to the ultimate win. I do have my own thoughts though and that and they are below...
ReplyDeleteWarning...rant to follow:
I am starting to believe that no matter how many states allow gay marriage that there will always be the church backed organizations like NOM to push and push and push until they get their way. It's sad that that may be the reality but until the government puts a stop to churches backing laws, it will continue to be like that. It all comes down to money...whoever or whatever has the most money, gets their way and I'm afraid that there just aren't enough gay friendly organizations out there with enough money to overtake the church backed ones. And to think this country was founded partly on the basis of seperation of church and state and that the reason being is the people were sick of the church making the laws...how is it any different now? Where are the next people going to set up camp and start their new country? I mean really, the government has taken a blind eye to religious backed lies and until they open their eyes and see what is REALLY going on, there just won't be any change.
So with that being said, all I think we can really do is keep moving forward and out the organizations that seem to think they know what's best for everyone else and keep trying to spread the words of truth and show everyone that all we want is the SAME rights as everyone else and to be treated just like everyone else. You know, what ever happened to the whole God loved everyone bit that churches like to spread? Does that only apply to the people that some church members WANT it to apply to? Seriously, who is ANYONE to say that I am not good enough for Gods love? [/rant]
-Jason
A couple months ago you (Bryan) posted on this blog a quote from John Shelby Spong about how he simply does not have the interest or patience to discuss the rights of homosexuals to marry anymore. I think it was the first post of yours that I read. I remember responding with some degree of frustration, thinking that Spong did not fully appreciate how hard it is for people to understand the relationships that can exist between members of the same sex.
ReplyDeleteEvery moment I hear about efforts not only to prevent marriage equality but also to repeal marriage equality, I begin to agree more and more with Spong. Gay marriage should be a non-issue at this point... even amongst church organizations.
I don't understand what it is like to be gay in the United States - what it is like to constantly be concerned that your right to marry will be repealed or denied. That fear would surely paralyze me and any attempt at developing a meaningful relationship. So my heart is disturbed when I read that that millions of homosexuals and dedicated heterosexuals constantly have to battle for a right that I already have, and anticipate exercising.
I do hope that homosexuals can continue to struggle to be graceful and humble as they fight for their rights in America. The campaign that has been lead thus far has been honourable and, though many barriers exist, has been looking at changing individuals rather than rallying traditional forces. I am continually impressed by the stories I read from those who campaigned in Maine - and I want their optimistic spirit to continue, even in the face of turbulence and denial.
But it is getting to be easier and easier to agree with John Shelby Spong...
Sad thing is I am not sure New Hampshire is going to be a state that goes for marriage equality. To me it seems the most conservative of all the New England states.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe the best way to get round this is to teach children in school about what freedom of religion and the separation of church and state means.
Wow...all of you had great things to say on the subject and I can't dissagree or add to any of them really..the only thing I can say is:
ReplyDelete@Rick's Time On Earth
"The only ones it actually hurts are the ignorant, who have no business in being in someone's private marriage and life in the first place."
Isn't this the age when we are in EVERYONE'S business...wether its reality t.v. prying eyes, youtubes ability to publicize the common man, facebook and twitter allerting us to every event in life from the tiniest bowel movement to the indescretions of the powerfull. If someone isn't stealing our information on the internet...its being sold from on company to another.
Is there REALLY any privacy?
wow...bad spelling alert...this is what happens when I type uncaffeinated...
ReplyDelete