Thursday, September 6, 2007

The Voice Of Our Youth

This past Tuesday, an ABC News report highlighted the testy exchange between Senator John McCain and William Sleaster, a Concord, New Hampshire high school student. The sixteen year old Sleaster, much to everyone's surprise, brought McCain to task over his steadfast belief in the "sanctity of marriage."

From one side of his mouth, McCain claimed that "discrimination in any form is unacceptable." Yet, in his reply to Sleaster over whether he supported civil unions or gay marriage, he stated, "I do not. I think that they impinge on the status and the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman."

"So you believe in taking away someone's rights because you believe it's wrong?"

"I wouldn't put that interpretation on my position, but I do understand yours," McCain said.

This whole confrontation, as most anyone already knows, drew heated response from both sides of the ongoing struggle for equality. The greater majority of Americans, based on the comments I've been reading, seem to favor the stand young Sleaster took against the Senator. Others, who by no small coincidence embrace the conservative right, believe his "disrespectful" line of query stemmed from over-exposure to the "pro-homosexual agenda" supplied by the mass media. Casting aside that laughably immature presumption, I am at a sheer loss to see what is so disrespectful in questioning the beliefs and issues of a man running for President. We all, as living people, possess the right to inquire and the fact that such valid points of discussion were raised by a high schooler is totally irrelevant. As an American citizen who happens to represent the next generation of voters, Mr. Sleaster is no less deserving of an opinion than anyone else.

What I take specific issue with are those who, for entirely bogus reasons, vehemently disagree with that assessment. These are individuals who endorse the preposterous notion that granting equal rights to all somehow promotes anarchy, and that it is the "Utopian Socialist Hippies" like me who are corrupting this country and molding it into one big Do-What-You-Want Woodstock. This insane commentary actually comprised the opinion of somebody who posted his own take on this story when it initially unfolded. He went on to say that "homosexuality, like prostitution, drug abuse, murder, rape and various other social cancers has and always will be with us." That biased mindset there, my friends, specifically demonstrates why this nation is so embarrassingly behind in direct relation to civil rights. If a sixteen year old high school student can see this, why can't McCain or any other double-speaking politician? Discrimination is discrimination. There really is no two ways about it. William Sleaster called McCain out on that truth and, for that sole reason, he should be commended.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Confronting The Core Of Human Stupidity

Throughout my life, I have always endeavored to look past the shortcomings in others and appreciate them for the well-meaning individuals they generally strive to be. People, for the most part, are good. Time and again, however, I find myself encountering those few whose age does not necessarily reflect their level of maturity. Many of them hold office in high levels of authority. But, more often than not, they are plain and simple average joes like you and me.

Opinions, as anybody will agree, are as diverse as all the innumerable souls that comprise modern society. Sadly, what I've been reading these last several days, in wake of the positive strides towards equal marriage, has left me wondering just how many sane men and women are actually voicing those beliefs.

"Allowing gays to marry is like calling adoption child birth."

"Why not legalize marriage between siblings, family pets and their owners, while you're at it?"

Sibling marriage. Wow. Are there really that many homophobes who harbor the desire to marry their dog or a family member? Considering the sheer number of times I've seen this sentiment voiced by heterosexual men throughout varying media outlets, there remains precious little to make me or anybody else assume otherwise. It is pathetically embarrassing statements like these that stem from the mouths of people old enough to know far better that are inadvertently aiding the gay community in their fight for equality. The collective gutter-trash mentality that provokes such laughable worldviews so commonly shared by bigots is what also leads the greater majority of them to unfairly equate homosexuality with the vile act of incest and child molestation. Gay men and women, as a direct result of this hideous belief pattern, are automatically viewed as subhuman, sexually promiscuous perverts. These zealots maintain such outdated judgment despite the fact that many current same-sex couples have shared a life of committed love spanning three or more decades. How then, one might ask, can such obvious devotion so easily be dismissed as unworthy or less deserving of equal protection under law? In all honesty, outside of the tired biblical misinterpretations and unfounded fear that has so needlessly and foolishly brainwashed vast scores of generations, there is no valid rhyme or reason. Those who cast stones would rather cling to the unsubstantiated falsehoods of myth instead of adhering to the indisputable evidence of their own eyes. It is that sad fact, alone, that specifically illustrates why their asinine claptrap should never be accepted with anything more than a grain of salt.