“We’ve got to take back the ideal of justice; we’ve got to take back this principle of human dignity. We’ve got to take it back from vengeance, from hatred, we’ve got to say: look, we’re all in this together. We are human beings.” ~ David Kaczynski
This morning I received an email from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) asking me to sign a petition urging the US Government to speak out against human rights violations in Uganda:
“[L]ast March, three American right-wing extremists, posing as “experts” on homosexuality, led a conference in Uganda where they claimed that gay men prey upon teenagers, that there is a gay agenda to destroy families, and that gay people can and should be changed to straight.
Then, in October, Uganda’s legislature introduced a bill making homosexual acts punishable by death and failure to report them punishable by jail time.
These Americans have put LGBT Ugandans – and those who care about them – in grave peril. We have a responsibility, as Americans, to protect them.”
This afternoon, The Courage Campaign sent me an update on the current Prop 8 fight going on in California. Challengers of the same-sex marriage ban are fighting to have the lawsuit televised:
Opponents of marriage equality filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday, begging to hide the trial from the American public. And a few hours ago, the Supreme Court delayed their decision until Wednesday.
Prop 8 supporters and anti-equality organizations like the National Organization for Marriage have spent tens of millions of dollars on 30-second ads scaring the American people into thinking that same-sex marriage will destroy our country. And now, when federal judges want to open the courtrooms to America, Prop 8 supporters want to unplug the TV.
I read these things – that in the year 2010, somewhere on this planet, loving someone may soon be legally punishable by death, that millions of dollars have been spent in order to deny Americans their right to love as they choose – and I wonder:
What is wrong with us?
Abraham Lincoln once said, “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
How would these “defenders of heterosexuality” feel if forced to be gay? How would they feel if they were told they would be killed for holding hands with their loved one? How would they feel if they knew their friends and family could spend life in prison for not turning them in?
I understand that people have their faith; what I don’t understand is why they need to impose them on other people.
What I don’t understand is how a political party whose platform is lessening the role of government in people’s lives is lobbying for more legislation on our bodies and what happens in our bedrooms.
What I don’t understand is how a country founded on freedom of religion and the idea that it is self evident that “all men are created equal” can deny any of its citizens any rights based on public opinion.
Some things are too important to put to a majority vote.
With all the pain, suffering, and hatred in the world, can we really afford to outlaw love in any form???
“Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.”
I Corinthians 13:4-8