Morally Wrong
Tue., November 25, 12:00 PM
Unless you live in the northeast, you probably are not aware that there were a couple of referenda on the ballot in our state. I became aware that there was more behind question number one than we perceived at first; fortunately, the question was voted down. There are always people who keep beating a dead horse, and a letter in the newspaper from one such person prompted the following letter from me — which was printed in its entirety. (Surprise, surprise!)
Writer BF believes that Connecticut voters did not comprehend the significance of the ballot question, “should there be a convention to amend the state constitution?” I did indeed understand the question. I also understood that everyone backing a “yes” vote held opinions completely opposite to mine. There are times when a constitutional amendment is not appropriate at all.
Why should the whole state have to decide just how other people live their lives? Someone else’s gay marriage does not affect mine. If I wanted to go into other people’s lifestyles, I can think of a great deal more dangerous than two people who love each other. (Before you ask, I will tell you that I, a woman, have been married to one man for more than forty years.)
In periods of economic stress like this, it is not uncommon for good people to forget that judging others is not morally right, whether or not it is legal or politically correct. Let’s stop and think before we get nasty, huh?
They even put a good illustration with it:
Another letter followed that I thought had some really good points. For example, “we cannot force a church to separate religion and hate, but the [federal] Constitution does separate church and state.” And, “we will not stop history and evolution.”
Part of my point is this: when people are afraid, they often tend to distance themselves from those who are different, placing blame for whatever problems on “them” as opposed to “us.” That is much of what happened in Germany seventy years ago, and Hitler encouraged it and benefited from it. But Germany was not unique, and don’t think it can’t happen here. Students of twentieth century American history may remember various anti-Jewish organizations, as well as the radio ranting of an individual named Father Francis Coughlin. And no one threw him off the air, either!
We hope that we’re better than that now. I fear that we cannot prevent bigotry without a conscious effort and, even more, I am afraid that there are a lot of people who are already too scared to stop and think before they act. Hate crimes (which are specifically illegal in Connecticut) are appearing on local college campuses, among young people who have no memory of the past. (And who don’t want to learn any history, of course.)
If only we can teach people to think before they talk. If their brains knew what their mouths were saying, they would die of embarrassment.
