Chickengate

I was going to say something about how ridiculous it is that people are fighting over a statement made by the owner of a fast food chain, or about how ludicrous I think it is that pro-chicken folk are attempting to make themselves out to be the victims by claiming that Chick-Fil-A's right to free speech is being trampled on.  But the truth is, there's already a lot of great write ups about it.

Instead, I want to just saw a few words on why any of this shit even matters to me.

The truth of the matter is that I don't even believe in marriage. I think it's an outdated institution that creates more problems in the modern age than it solves. I believe that if two people love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together, then they can prove that by spending the rest of their lives together. They don't need an expensive ring or fancy ceremony to prove that.  To me, all that pomp is little more than a giant circle jerk.

However, it's not my job to topple the institution of marriage. If I choose not to get married, that's my deal. I believe that everyone should have the right to make that choice for themselves.  Which is why I fight for the rights of gays and lesbians to have their marriages recognized in the eyes of the government.

Not the church, mind you. I have my own personal spiritual beliefs that I'm not going to share here, but I was brought up protestant, converted to Catholicism, and I've studied different religions. I have a ton of respect for those religions, their beliefs, and their teachings. I may not always agree with them, but I respect them.  And I would never force any religion to recognize a thing they did not believe in.

But the institution of marriage has both civic and religious components. Most people combine the two, but the civic component and the religious need not interfere. Two people may get married without any type of church ceremony.

That's why I disregard any argument made against gay marriage on the basis of religion.  Gay marriage is not going to force churches to officiate or bless any union they choose not to. It will only force the state to grant the SAME rights afforded to straight adults. You can argue that God says gay marriage is wrong, but God isn't the one granting gay couples the right to file their taxes jointly, so until he starts signing marriage certificates, the argument is invalid.

None of this is about a gay agenda or giving gays special rights. I don't pay my gay taxes or my gay electric bill. I don't drive on a gay turnpike in my gay car to work at my gay job.  Gays and lesbians are not asking for special rights...just rights.  Period. Full stop.

And whether or not your religion allows you to agree is beside the point.  Some religions disagree with working on Sundays, but they don't attempt to force every business to close on Sundays do they?  That's because religion and politics are two different things. We don't legislate what religion people follow and religious leaders shouldn't dictate legislative policy.

Someone in a post I read made a very astute observation. I wish I could quote it verbatim but I forgot to bookmark it, so you'll have to forgive my poor attempt to paraphrase.  Essentially he or she reminded me that granting rights to gays isn't forcing them upon everyone else or taking them away either.  Granting gays and lesbians the right to marry doesn't diminish the civic institution of marriage any more than the 30 minute marriages of most hollywood couples, and it won't force straight people to marry gays either.  The truth of the matter is that the only people gay marriage will affect is gay people.  If you want to argue that gay marriage diminishes marriage in a religious sense, go right ahead! I'd suggest you also talk about how the 50% divorce rate ALSO diminishes marriage in a religious sense.  But since religious policy and government policy aren't the same thing, it doesn't really matter.  What matters is that America is a country that stands for freedom. Freedom for everyone.  And continuing to deny gays the right to marry is institutionalizing discrimination and hate.

You know, I'll support your right to call me names and tell me I'm going to hell all you want so long as you don't try to deny me my right to freedom and happiness.  You have the right to hate, all gays want is the right to love.

As for the Chick-Fil-A thing...well, once the Facebook tsunami of rage has died down, I'm sure everyone will forget about this and they'll go back to being the third-rate fast-food joint they were before.