New York City has just legalised "marriage" between same-sex couples and boy are the gays going-at-it gang-busters to be in on this new freedom. They see it as their just reward for the contentious and confrontational existence the previous generation of homos had to put up with and tying into their primal rebellion of 1969. The legacy of the June 28 Stonewall Inn Riots outside a mafia-owned saloon in Greenwich Village became the defining event that marked the start of gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
Now, in Australia, an organisation called Equal Love informs us that they are preparing a mass illegal wedding in Melbourne, as a protest against the present marriage laws. Equal Love's spokesperson, Ali Hogg said, "We want to get the message out loud and clear with this upcoming protest that homophobia and discrimination is not welcome in Australia and therefore the laws in place that perpetuate this homophobia should be gotten rid of." The protest is to be held on August 13, marking the 7th Anniversary since the Howard government amended the marriage laws to state that marriage is between one man and one women.
The many, many people in Australia that agree with that fundamental statement had no idea that they were perpetuating homophobia by supporting ordinary marriage as they know it. Rather they thought they were and are perpetuating common sense. But apparently, according to the inclusivity demand of NEW THINK, if you are against gay marriage, then you must be homophobic.
And of course we all know who are the worst homophobes. They are the Christians (but lets not forget the Jews and Muslims too). But why the Christians? Because Christianity incorporates very clear and unified teachings on sex, marriage and the family, which can articulate the bedrock values from which Western society has derived its laws on the family and marriage. This reasonable position is dangerous to people who are not interested in reason but who use common ad hominem insults and, above all, cheap emotionalism to get away with irrational foolishness. So when one discusses the complementarity of the sexes as a natural, fundamental element of both the sexual marriage relationship and the parenting that goes with it, one gets branded a bigot and a Christian bigot at that.
There is now a new Christian persecution; it disguises itself in the "inclusivism" which is demanded of multiculturalism. The not-at-all persecuted gay & lesbian community have tacked themselves on to the persecuted minority wagon train, and consequently have gotten away with framing the debate in purely emotional terms. Margret Somerville, the noted Canadian ethicist, who gave a lecture at the University of NSW last Wednesday, talked about religious influence being negated, or in fact, driven out of the public arena in many liberal democracies, where secularism no longer means freedom of religion but freedom from religion.
The Way I See It....if mainstream religious culture is subverted for a sterile notion of no-religion secularism where anything is allowed you will end up with moral chaos. If religious voices want to be heard in the public square than they have to make sure that they are not driven out or shouted down. They have to make themselves heard by the quality of their arguments. Two of them being in fact that usurping the word GAY is a misnomer that rankles the general population when they like to describe themselves as having a joyous mood or dressing in bright colours. A different word certainly needs to be found. Secondly, gay marriage itself is a misnomer in the obvious fact of its traditional meaning. So here again, most "straight" people would be less uptight if another word is used for a same-sex union. Get your thinking-caps on!
Finally, it seems that people would rather stick to their preconceived notions and not add anything meaningful to the debate or lean to any compromise. Just like the idiot woman chosen to MC the August 13 Rally who said, "Personally, I've had two husbands and three marriages, and marriage has lost its lustre for me. But I don't see why the GLBTI should be excluded from marrying just because it's always-been-that-way. And let's face it: nobody does 'wedding' better than gay or lesbian couples!" GOSH...what a great argument for gay marriage.
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