By TJ Edouard
If I were from California and found Proposition 8 on my ballot, I would have left the option blank. I do feel the institution of marriage is between a woman and a man; however, I would not impose these personal beliefs on others, nor do I feel like I want to deny any manner of people rights. However, I am not surprised Proposition 8 passed since the people of California have voted against gay marriage in the past.
What surprises me is the pseudo-Nazi scapegoating that erupted over the days following the election. Liberals were protesting, churches countrywide were plugging up their parking lots with inane protest war-calls and interrupting services and by throwing pamphlets in the middle of service. Keeping your religion while getting out of certain church parking lots is hard enough; no conservative Christian needs to be tempted to run over a liberal. It's almost too hard to resist. Some people were assaulted, including a young missionary named Christian Cloud, who told her story on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor."
A lot of people seriously think Mormonism and Evangelical Christianity is to blame for the passing of Proposition 8. Some people want to boycott the entire state of Utah, which is pretty ridiculous. I don't think it's Sundance's fault that the headquarters of the Church of Latter Day Saints happens to be in Utah. You might as well boycott Jerusalem because Evangelical Christianity happened to have its roots there. I bet you won't find liberals boycotting El Al Airlines; most are too cheap to buy gas to get there. The others are too busy protesting for a handout. They will do all this disregarding there are many secular arguments against gay marriage. Any half-brain on Google can figure this out.
So, does Proposition 8 promote discrimination and intolerance? Or does Proposition 8 promote the democratic process? By labeling everyone who voted in favor of Proposition 8 as "[appealing] to fear" or in "contempt for changes and progress," people actually perpetuate the same negative stereotype against themselves. For example, why is it wrong if someone truly does believe marriage should be between a man and a woman? Is marriage a gay right in the first place? These are legitimate questions to ask especially when liberals love to throw the "bigot" card. Remember, homosexuals aren't the only people states restrict from marrying. Did you know that some states restrict first cousins from marrying each other while others do not?
Some would argue that two homosexuals can genuinely love each other, but should that be the sole criteria for marriage? While I am asking, here is another biggie: "What is marriage?"
Most liberals just complain that homosexuals can't visit each other in the hospital. Yet they are the first to get upset when ignorant people say that AIDS is the "gay disease." Sometimes I don't get the logic (or lack of). A gay male cannot visit his lover in the hospital. A heterosexual husband can visit his wife in the hospital. So the gay male should be able to get married? I don't understand this logic at all. It seems to me the problem is the rules of the hospital and not the institution of marriage.
Liberals blame everything on everyone who disagrees with them. Too bad their messiah, B. Hussein Obama, is against gay marriage. But they are quick to make excuses. "He said he's against Proposition 8!" they will cry. This just shows us more of his flip-flopping ideals. Some people are just for traditional marriage and they are not prejudice because of it. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion if it is influenced by Judeo-Christian ideals. Not everyone drops his or her religious views like Obama, anyway.
TJ Edouard is a junior liberal arts student. You may e-mail him at tedoua1@pride.hofstra.edu.