Not To Worry About The Social Fabric
Marriage equality legislation, legalizing gay marriage, passed the IL Senate 34-21 today, with one no vote being my state senator Kirk Dillard. Senator Dillard cast, by his own expression, a principled vote on the basis of his belief that a marriage can only consist of one man and one woman. He also advised when I queried him, that gay marriage, having such a drastic impact on the social fabric, should only be decided by referendum of all voters. Of course, Senator Dillard is merely trotting out the specious arguments of white state legislators in the deep South decades ago that God ordained a black should not marry a white, regardless of opposite gender. Those folks also passed the moral buck by arguing that only a popular referendum should allow something so pernicious to the social fabric as interracial marriage. It wouldn't be hard to guess how that vote would go considering that few blacks were even allowed to vote down south, much less be able to marry interracially.
Dillard's vote, besides being so 19th century when it comes to human enlightenment, shows how little he knows about the gay community. He apparently doesn't realize that gays would do nothing to harm fabric.
Dan Johnson
11:53 am on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The vast body of evidence since the early days of social science shows prejudice always causes harm, in a wide variety of ways.
Laws, social policies, social support systems that deny equality contribute to a social climate that results in harm. The resulting dehumanization and demonization is used to justify their behavior by those who bully, beat, torture, and kill. It also results in self destruction, both fast and slow.
The same prejudice used to dehumanize us here is also used around the world to justify imprisonment, torture, and death. The only way to end prejudice is to expose it and the harm it causes, anywhere and everywhere it surfaces.
Prejudice is a deadly disease that can only be cured through education and understanding.
Both the 5th and 14th amendments require equal legal treatment for all persons, as promised in the founding documents. Treating others as you would yourself, is a requirement of all religions and even non-religious ethical belief systems. Now is always a good time to put it into practice.
Dan Johnson
11:57 am on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The arguments for denial of equality have all been exposed to be without merit. Irrational prejudice, based mainly on a few mistranslated and misinterpreted bible verses which are contradicted by more important verses telling us to treat others as we would ourselves, are all that remain. It is time to stop stalling the inevitable, pass marriage equality, and move on to issues that affect everyone.