The Arizona Republic today splashed this headline at the top of the paper: STATE VOTE URGED ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. This should not be construed as a DOMA style state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Arizona already has such a law in its constitution. Conservative social activists and key state lawmakers (read Republicans) want a referendum placed on the ballet in November 2006 that will insure no Arizona judge could ever rule in favor of same-sex marriage.
I don't have to tell you how un-American such a law would be. It would totally destroy the checks and balances of our state government. If you think this is only an Arizona issue, think again. The same referendum may appear on your state ballot soon.
Why would Americans be so willing to undermine the principals that have made this land the greatest country to ever appear on the face of the planet? Well, power is one reason. One of the principal observations of the kings of Europe was, if you control the courts, you control the country. Another reason is education. What can you say about voters who still think that Iraq had WMDs? The final reason is fear. Not a fear of gays, but a fear of "different."
Ever notice that funny little feeling you get when you walk into a room and have to confront a person in a wheel chair or an obviously mentally ill person? It's a fear of someone different from you. This fear is innate, it seems, in all of us. Most of us learn to get past it by realizing this is a person just like us. No different other than a physical or mental challenge. But many of us still feel that reaction. Some of us, to compensate, get aggressive. To justify the aggression against an obviously weaker person, they claim superiority over them.
This has happened again and again over the ages. If a person is a different color, lives in a different place, worships a different god, speaks a different language, has a different education, or even a different gender - they must be inferior. And that inferiority must be legitimized in order for you to feel good about yourself.
Now, when this fear becomes political, it's no longer a natural thing. It becomes a learned thing - passed down from parents to children throughout time. Let's take a look at how this has worked here in America.
I know blacks don't like it when gays play the race card, but this really isn't about race, it's about difference and how Americans handle it. I hope to show you the American mindset towards difference using the window of slavery.
From its onset, America had been uneasy about slavery. Despite the fine words in our Declaration of Independence, slavery was allowed in order to keep the states united. It was a concession to get this country started. By the early 1800's that concession was starting to rip the union apart. The people in the South felt they needed to educate their northern brothers and sisters on the realities of slavery and began to produce literature in excessive amounts to show how slavery was justified.
From 1830 to 1865, thousands upon thousands of books, pamphlets, essays, magazine and newspaper articles, printed sermons and speeches enthusiastically and aggressively extolled the virtues of black slavery. Every conceivable thesis, every possible line of reasoning, and every form of attack that might support slavery was invoked, and repeated endlessly with infinite variations from every possible angle. Newspapers spewed headlines like: RESISTANCE TO ABOLITION IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD.
The Bible has always been used as a yardstick to justify superiority of one human over another. Slavery was no different. Here is the main verse used to support a Biblical justification of slavery:
Leviticus 25:44-46 (NIV) "Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. Youmay also buysome of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clansborn in your country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly."
Taking that into consideration along with the words of Paul and Jesus, who both spoke about slavery but never condemned it, you reach a conclusion that slavery, in some form or other, has existed in every civilized country of the world and the Bible obviously condones it. If someone brought up the issue of the diabolical treatment of slaves, this verse was thrown at them:
Exodus 21:20-21 (NIV) "If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property"
Biblical proof texts were not the main reason that people felt slavery was justified in the south. There was also that uncomfortable feeling of "difference" to be dealt with. If you want to treat another portion of humanity like slaves were treated, you needed to prove that they were somehow subhuman. This was easy with the Native Americans. They killed whites, so they were red devils - demons and savages that needed to be killed off. The only good Indian was a dead Indian. But slaves were not a threat to whites, so another tactwas taken. First, there must be Scriptural evidence that the negro was meant to be slaves to the white:
Genesis 9:26-27 (NIV) "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave."
As obscure as that text might be, the Canaanites were considered the cursed offspring of Ham. So it was felt that blacks were physically, mentally, and morally inferior to whites and therefore deserving to be kept as slaves. Blacks were said to be "exceptions to the common brotherhood of man and could never be equal to whites." This is what was said about slavery at the time:
Jefferson Davis: "Slavery was established by decree of Almighty God. It is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation. It has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts."
Senator James Hammond: "The doom of Ham has been branded on the form and features of his African descendants. The hand of fate has united his color and destiny. Man cannot separate what God hath joined."
Sound familiar? The exact same mindset is being used against gays and lesbians today. Not much has changed in the South and Midwest. This same large group of people supported slavery, Jim Crow laws, segregation, and fought against women's suffrage, federal lynching laws, desegregation, and civil rights. They assert the spiritual inferiority of women and desire them to submit to their husbands regardless of their talents or abilities. This group of people have been on the WRONG side of every great moral issue in the history of the United States. And they are on the wrong side again. Listen to what is being said about gays and lesbians by their leaders:
Congressmen Jim DeMint: "Gays should not be allowed to teach in Public Schools."
Senator Rick Santorum: "Gay sex is like having sex with animals."
Rev. Jerry Falwell: "These perverted homosexuals absolutely hate everything that you and I and most decent God-fearing citizens stand for. Make no mistake. These deviats seek no less than total control and influence in society, politics, our schools and in our exercise of free speech and religious freedom. If we do not act now, homosexuals will own America."
Lou Sheldon: "Our little children are being targeted by the homosexuals. They want our children, from preschool to highschool, to be brainwashed to think that homosexuality is the moral equivalent to heterosexuality."
These sentiments are not new. They are as old as the South. How does one combat them? The same way we did in the 1800s. Our Democratic leaders need to meet this head on. They will get nowhere by being silent about these issues. They must stand up for REAL American moral values. The moral values that state:
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
We need strong Democratic leaders who aren't afraid to stand up in the face of bigotry and un-American activities and tell the people the truth. We can't be silent like we were during the last campaign where the only voices being heard were those carrying the message of condemnation. The message of equality must be stated in every speech, in every meeting, in every OpEd, in every sound byte, in every news article and every debate that transpires between now and the next election. And it must be stated vigorously. It has to start NOW, so the American people can be educated by 2008 or nothing will change other than the constitution of this great nation.
If that happens, the great experiement of American freedom will be no more.
©2004 Marcia Ellen "Happy" Beevre
