Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Susan Stanko on May 9, 2012 at 7:59am

Once it becomes clear to them that they screwed themselves over, they will start a movement to overturn the law.  This does not effect only LGBT.

Permalink Reply by David Philip Norris on May 9, 2012 at 12:09pm

I also wish I were as confident as you. However, I know these people and how they think. My whole immediate family consists of those people (with their gay atheist son -- imagine). They sluff responsibility for the suffering they cause by saying "narrow is the way that leads to salvation" (Matthew 7:13-14). It will probably take SCOTUS declaring these amendments unconstitutional for any significant change to happen, as it did in 1954 with Brown v. Board of Education. The George Wallaces of this country will eventually be ordered to step aside. I hope.

Permalink Reply by Pat on May 9, 2012 at 12:21pm

Unfortunately, I don't see it happening with the current makeup of SCOTUS. Roberts, Thomas, Scalia, and Alito would all certainly vote against declaring it unconstitutional. That leaves Kennedy as the swing vote, and I don't have a lot of confidence in him.

Permalink Reply by Pat on May 9, 2012 at 8:57am

I wish I were as confident as you, Susan. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that once they start taking hits from this law, that they'll change their mind. Mind you, these are the same people who were screwed over by evangelical conservatives in the past, and will gladly take another fucking in the process - then beg for more. Ignorance is the parent of fear. And what is religion, if not the acceptance of an ignorant superstition. Instill the ignorance, and pandering to the "fear factor" is relatively easy.  Fear is a great motivator to get people to vote against their own self interest. Fear of foreigners, fear of those who don't fellate their dead cosmic jewish zombie god, fear of science, and fear of anyone defined as different from them. Selling fear gets otherwise rational people to do very irrational things. Or, as Steven Weinberg put it, But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. When this law starts biting them in the ass, they won't look at the rational reason for it. Their handlers will come up with another "enemy of the people" to blame, and try and outlaw them - dragging their supporters down even further.

Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on May 13, 2012 at 8:52am

David I love your poem.  Much better than Vogon poetry, absolutely.

The N. Carolina effort was mean spirited from start to finish.  It enshrined religion into the state's constitution.  I don't think it's an accident to include unmarried domestic partners as a separate / unequal to marriage.  What they seem to say is, "Live in sin, and the state will not allow you rights equal to those who live in accordance with our view of christianity".  The law of the state is now, follow religious belief and be married, which is a church institution by their definition.

When I was growing up, there was talk of "The Iron Curtain" separating the US from USSR, and "The Bamboo Curtain" separating the US from China.  In my isolated small Illiniois town, I used to joke about "The Corn Curtain" - we could not get TV stations from Chicago or St. Louis, and it was very isolated in culture and ideas.  Now, I fear, we have a "Grits Curtain" separating the US South from modernity.  The flaw in that description is, it seems, Minnesota and Indiana are not Grits-oriented but still overly influenced by selective editing of the bible, and covert allegiance to the Catholic magisterium.

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on May 14, 2012 at 8:17am

I enjoyed reading your poem!
There's a poem group on the site and you could post your poem there too!
The group is ARS Poetica. It's one of Dallas' groups.
I agree they are bigots using bullying tactics.