The Party of HateA recurring theme in (neo)conservative attacks on liberals over the past four years has been hatred. Liberals hate America; liberals hate guns; liberals hate God; liberals hate Israel; liberals hate our troops; and so on. Democrats have been called “the party of hatred". I presume this is all meant as criticism.
So why do conservatives hate homosexuals so much? Just what, exactly, are they afraid of?
39 states have laws that prohibit gay marriage. So far thirteen states have approved constitutional amendments limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. Most states do not recognize civil unions, and some states (like Texas) specifically prohibit them. Speaking of Texas, that state’s Board of Education just got the publishers of its high school and middle school textbooks to change the wording in those books to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman:
Another board member, Terri Leo, a Republican, said she was pleased with the publishers’ changes. She had led the effort to get the publishers to change the texts, objecting to what she called “asexual stealth phrases” like “individuals who marry.”
“Marriage has been defined in Texas, so it should also be defined in our health textbooks that we use as marriage between a man and a woman,” Ms. Leo said.
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Neither publisher made all the changes that Ms. Leo initially sought. For instance, one passage that was proposed to be added to the teacher’s editions read: "Opinions vary on why homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals as a group are more prone to self-destructive behaviors like depression, illegal drug use and suicide."
Nice.
Gay marriage is, of course, the “values voter” cause celebre this year. Values voters voted for Bush, and liberals, didn’t you know, hate marriage. The case against gay marriage is usually summed up as “marriage is a venerable institution that always has been between a man and a woman.” Well, slavery was a venerable institution, too, and voting was traditionally only for property-owning white men, so forgive me if I reject that argument as spurious. No, it seems to me that the only honest reason for wishing to ban gay marriage is the belief that there is something morally wrong with it. After all, homosexuality is a sin, right?
There is no public policy that is served by preventing gay marriage. To the contrary, excluding gays from the institution of marriage makes it harder for gay couples to provide for each other, and for their families. And if your position is that gays should be entitled to the benefits of marriage, you just don’t want to call it “marriage”, well, that is the worst kind of intellectually dishonest bigotry. It’s called “separate but equal”, and it is divisive, destructive, and (incidentally) morally reprehensible.
So what it comes down to is, people are offended by the notion of gay marriage, and don’t want their “own” heterosexual marriage tainted by association. To use Karl Rove’s words, it isn’t about policy, it is about “decency” (and “hope”!?). Decency is staying the hell out of other people’s business. Decency is letting human beings of a different color skin, different gender, different sexual orientation, etc. enjoy the same rights and privileges other human beings enjoy.
You want us God-hating liberals to let you poor, marginalized Christians practice your religion in peace? Why don’t you start by showing that you are capable of tolerance yourselves? Seriously, what are you afraid of?
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