Gay/Anti-Gay Legislation

We sure seem to be spending a lot of time and effort on this issue.  I find both sides off the mark in their positions.

First, many who oppose, say, same-sex marriages/unions (or whatever they are called), offer as a justification their own "religious freedom."  Huh?  Nobody, certainly not the gays, are preventing any Christians from free exercise of their religion.  Christians can practice what they want, as long as they don't kill anyone, etc.  They don't have to marry others of the same sex.  They can oppose it, just like they can oppose a lot of things.  But doesn't "freedom of religion" mean that Christians can't impose their religious beliefs on others?

Besides, wasn't it this guy Jesus who told us to "love thy neighbor as thyself?"  Aren't gays "neighbors?"

It wasn't too long ago, in historical context, that religion (Christianity) and, specifically, the Bible that were used to justify slavery.  No, it wasn't only in the South.  When both Yale and Dartmouth were still affiliated with the Christian Church, deans/presidents of those institutions gave speeches defending slavery and citing the Bible as the authority for their defense.  Hmmm......  And those of us who grew up in the '50s and '60s remember a different time, with a different minority, when bigotry was justified through a variety of means.

By the same token, if some baker or photographer or whoever, doesn't want to serve or take pictures at a gay wedding, that should be his prerogative, his right.  Government should not dictate what people must do.  I think such bakers and photographers or whoever are bigots, that they reflect poorly on their religions, etc. but the government (be it state or federal) should tell them they must "bake a cake" or "take photos," etc. of gay weddings.  And if boycotts are called and those businesses are hurt, even put out of business, well and good.  People have a right to be bigots, but they also should bear the consequences of that bigotry.

In the same vein as Christians not being able to impose their beliefs on others, gays shouldn't be allowed, by using the tools of government, to force others to accept gay marriage, etc.  Now, as I noted earlier, why they don't, as if it affects them personally?????, is sometimes beyond me.  Hey, didn't the Pope himself a short while ago say Catholics focused on the wrong issues?  This was one of them.  Some are opposed to gay marriages, even gays themselves, but this is America--we have the right to have wrong opinions.

It's interesting how the sides have seemingly changed, that is, in calling for the government to come in and solve the problem.

We have cities with kids being shot and killed every day.  We have schools, suburban schools, where there are students murdering other students seemingly every other week.  We have a government that is taking away freedoms bit by bit.  Our schools are in the toilet.  But gay marriages is the issue??????

And, almost as an addendum, a couple weeks ago I was called "an old fogey."  OK, I admit I am in many ways.  I know I've written about this before, many times.  But "new" and "modern" are not synonyms with better.  Our culture, regarding morality and ethics, is disintegrating.  I think much of it is due to the attitudes that were inculcated (When I was a freshman in college, I always made fun of the use of that word!) in the '60s and, esp, '70s.  And I think it's been ingrained since then.  Bill Clinton made immorality fashionable.  He's not only not considered a scumbag, but held up as the senior spokesman of the party.  Imagine Bill Clinton as a paragon?!?!?!  There are no leaders out there who set high standards of decency.  In effect, we are managing to "dumb down" morality.  I don't think that's a good thing and if it makes me "an old fogey," I plead "Guilty."