A 'Coming Out' Party for Empathy - Love Wins!

This blog is my response to this ARTICLE I recently read about the US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston overturning a 1996 ruling limiting same sex marriage benefits, deeming it unconstitutional.

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Can you hear the thump-thump-thump of the bible slowly fading away? I can, and the silence is deafening. The Bible is Finally Being Bread OUT of the American Political Vernacular. It only took about 5 decades to breed the archaic religious dogma out of the US vernacular since the civil rights movement of the 60’s, and that phenomenon is finally starting to make a dent in the legal, religious and political landscape as evidenced by this unanimous decision that eventually leads way to one of the biggest Supreme Court Smack-Downs to come along in some time. But that certainly hasn’t stopped the desperate, fanatical right from still making noise, if only because they simply shout louder than everyone else. And the closer we get to The Big Smack-Down, the more surreal the noise will get. It’s like arguing with my x-wife, she will say ANYTHING to avoid admitting error. So I try not to laugh out loud as it just pisses them off and they shout even louder. With everything they do, with every feeble protest they mount, I can only hear them pining for days of yore when it was good to be an American. And that’s when “American” meant being white, straight, educated, wealthy, Christian and MALE. Everyone else?… not so much.

The New Generation VS. The Old Guard

But finally, the fanatical religious right’s numbers are being diluted, and their drone is being drowned out by the NEW generation’s “march” against the scourge of racism, bigotry, hatred and discrimination, who’s roots on this continent extend back to the beginnings of “white” America. So let’s touch on that for a bit. Note to Columbus: dude - you didn’t discover America, you didn’t discover shit! You only found it, because everywhere you landed, there were ALREADY PEOPLE LIVING THERE, long before you were ever born! That’s like me saying I invented masturbating in 1972! Just cuz’ you wrote it down first only means that you just wrote it down first. That alone gives you, or your ‘queen’ ownership over nothing. How is it that the history books just glossed over that fact? But I give the man mad props for sailing the ocean blue in 1492 when his entire crew thought they were going to sail off the edge of the world at any moment. But do you think history would shine so favorably on Columbus’ white ass if he were black? I’m thinkin’ no. He would have been billed as “The Nigger That Invaded America!” This was the first, and maybe most glaring American example of “white-man arrogance”, a trait that is a black mark (YES to that pun) on our sacred ‘free’ society to this day. Never to turn down an opportunity to dominate your fellow man, Whitey took that torch and RAN with it. Over time, money and power were the order of the day, and consequently, so was the obliteration of anything that stood in it’s path - like Native Americans, victims of the first holocaust. And when they ran out of Indians to obliterate, they imported Africans to do all the hard work that Whitey took credit for. Then, when Whitey was FORCE to ‘grant’ the Africans ‘freedom’ he did so by hurling them in to strife, incarceration and poverty. Gee, I wonder why they’re so bitter? So as you can see, history tells us that Whitey is never happy unless he’s got someone to crap on. I guess it’s like the bully in the schoolyard - beating weaker people makes him feel ALIVE! Hitler anyone?

Enter The New Generation.. Just in The Nick of Time!

I digress - this landmark, unanimous decision of Boston’s 3rd District Appeals Court to over turn an horrific decision from 1996 in the first place - and as the last (and next) election demonstrates - the tide of human decency is finally turning in the favor of – well, decent humans! That kindness, tolerance, decency and love are finally winning out over race, religion, money and power. But that doesn’t keep the old guard from holding on to their ancient beliefs - and their guns - with their cold dead fingers. I mean, let’s face it, white Christian people had a really good run there didn’t they? I mean if it was me, I too would have to be dragged out kicking and screaming – or at least holding up a pathetic little sign beseeching some court to protect MY preferred way of life (oi vey – where do I start?). But now a-days, a ‘darkie’ is in the White House, gay people can almost get married… geez - pretty soon, we’ll be smoking pot with impunity! (OK – let’s not get crazy! We’ll save that for another Noodling that will indeed be very Scrumpy indeed.)

It’s a New Day, I Give The Children All The Credit

The the new generation is upon us and I can’t tell you how proud I am that my kids are right in the thick of, and the REASON for it! Their “march” is not one predicated on picketing demonstrations, buying politicians and the screaming and yelling of scripture by so-called religious leaders. No, theirs is a simpler and far more effective if not slow and deliberate killer of ancient dogma that harken the actions of Ghandi and Martin Luther King – REAL leaders. Their “march” is simply their WAY OF BEING. The new generation has grown up distanced from the white Christian dominated landscape of the 50’s, and the old guard poo-poo’ing of civil rights movement in the 60’s and 70’s. And their parents are the first generation that actually said, “I can’t believe we acted that way!” So the scourge was ever so less prevalent in their critical child rearing years as it was in ours, and totally nonexistent compared to our parents’. It’s a fresh new day for the new generation - and a long awaited day of realization for us, the defiant faction. The few of GenX that stood up and fearlessly charged that that ‘way of being’ was ‘just being a dick’. And I can tell you, that attitude definitely cost me some cred in high school… the kind of cred I was happy to relinquish. But one I quickly gained back in the punk rock years of college.

Now don’t get me wrong. I, nor my generation is taking credit for this uprising… only pointing out the fact that the new generation has truly learned to walk with tolerance, understanding, kindness and love in their hearts simply because they were left to their own devices in their most formative years. And in doing so, the goodness in their souls rose like cream to the top, and they did it on their own by their own terms. Because...

"they DO hold these truths as self-evident, as these
truths truly DO reside in their hearts and souls and
they hold these truths for EVERYONE in the world…"

...not just the blessed-by-god USA (does that mean that Canadians are all going to hell?).

The new generation has taken tolerance to a new level. In my day, tolerance was defined as, “OK, be gay, just don’t let me see it.” Tolerance for the new generation is essentially excepting anything and anyone that doesn’t directly hurt or threaten them - to let all new ideas in - to be properly processed without prejudice and genuinely effected by them in the most positive sense. They have perfected the rare human trait of having love for even those they don't fully agree with or understand. And I for one, just LOVE that!

Case in Point

I recently saw an inspiring VIDEO online of a middle school student with MS participating in the 400 meter run for his school’s field day. The gun sounded and off they went, and before they covered 20 meters, this boy was 15 meters behind. But that didn’t deter him. He just kept chugging along. Now here’s the difference. In my day, students would have stood around smirking to themselves and laughing at the ‘retard’ trying to run while parents squirmed uncomfortably in the stands. But with the new generation, after all racers finished their 2 laps before he finished his 1st – they, and the ENTIRE SCHOOL ran with him on the infield of the track, clapping and shouting his name in encouragement. There was no adult saying, “hey, it’d be nice if you…” - they just DID it. That kind of selfless love is just IN them, it’s in their souls. And left to their own devices – without the noise of politics and really stupid people shouting their agenda from the rooftops… the cream simply rises to the top. THIS is the phenomenon that we are lucky enough to bear witness to. Oh… and if you’re wondering which side of this shift you’re on, if you watch that video, and are not shedding a tear by the end… it’s probably the wrong side.

Great Lines Have Been Drawn

Tolerance is a word, as pointed out by a dear friend, that can be take negatively as easily as positively. That the mere existence of the word suggests that we can’t necessarily agree with or adapt to a new way of thinking, but only ‘put up’ with one we vehemently disagree with. But I prefer to see that glass as half full as this IS a work in process. The Civil rights movement was the first step that changed the law. But many decades later, the change in the fabric of our society has yet to be fully realized. But the stubborn stragglers, as always, are the fanatical and religious zealots of the far right. Fanatical, racist and religious… three distinctions that I’m finding to be more and more transparent as both of those desperate factions cling to their aging outdated ideals. And as they do, they’ve become one in the same. And in this space, tolerance is hardly attainable. It’s like the expression “It’s darkest before dawn”. Tolerance is a trait that, by my scorecard, isn't really the religious or fanatical right's strong suit to say the very least. The lines are gradually being obscured and eventually, they’ll feel so isolated from the new generation that they’ll finally shut up. So the hard lines drawn decades and centuries ago are finally being greyed into obscurity, and I'm proud to say my 3 kids, and most of their friends, are among the new generation that’s leading the charge. Not because they decided to, and certainly not because a politician or book said so, but simply because it’s the ‘right’ and ‘decent’ way to coexist with your fellow man. And last I checked, religion does not have a monopoly on ‘right’ and ‘decent’.

Short Memory, or None At All

I was perplexed by women who vehemently oppose this decision to give rights to those who have been discriminated against since the beginning of time - to people that they will never meet if their lives depended on it. I find this ironic and typically short sighted of these protesting religious female types who would have NO VOICE AT ALL if not for the dogged determination of the Suffragettes in the early 1900’s. Those women endured years of outrageous abuse and discrimination while tolerating unthinkable sacrifices to fight for equal right's for ALL women, not just the straight ones. The same kind of equal rights that these 'woman' are protesting AGAINST with their feeble signs and inbred hatred, veiled and somehow justified by the word of 'god'. Seriously, don’t you think that would piss god off? I mean – talk about using his name in vain!

I Too am a Sex Obsessed Lesbian

It’s obvious that the church is FAR more obsessed with sex than the greater population is… and is there it any wonder? Regarding their own sexual behavior, their religious leaders either ‘ARE when they SHOULDN'T’ - or they ‘AREN'T when they SHOULD’. Hasn’t history proven that the church ‘does sex’ VERY BADLY? Yet they feel they should be giving US advice? It’s not like they lead by example here. This is typical of what these people would tell us what we can, and cannot do with our schmeckles & clams…

“Alice, you cannot have sex - but William, you can… but not with that person - and Mr. Goldstien, you need to lop off the end of your son’s penis - and Abraham, kill your son please (at least he was polite about it) - and Bruce, you can be Tommy’s father, but not with Chad - and Lamar, you can’t wear a condom, but Loquisha, you must have his baby - and little Billy, pick up that soap for me would ya?”

“Land of The Free" MY ASS!

This is completely out of control! How can they call themselves American when everything they say and do contradicts the spirit of the constitution, freedom of expression and completely spits in the face of “All men are created equal”. Yet every time the ‘darkie’ in the white house farts, they waive their “that’s unconstitutional” flag. The hypocrisy is flagrant, pathetic and laughable. But the thumping is finally disappearing.

The religious moral minority is far more concerned with what WE are doing with our lives rather than what THEY are doing with theirs. When the fact of the matter is that the church has had more sex scandals (that we know about) than all of American’s professional athletes combined (actually, Tiger and Wilt might be deal breakers on that claim). Blind to that fact, they STILL believe that they represent the moral high-ground of society because a 2,100 year old book said so – the likes of which was written a mere 200,000 years after the evolution of man, and only a few hundred billion years after the creation of the planet. Now there’s some credible information if you ask me... NOT! And because of that, they have the audacity to think that what 2 adults decide to do with their lives has anything to do with them (there’s that white-man audacity again!). And worse than that, they think it’s THEIR moral obligation to stop other people from doing what ever it is they think they’re doing wrong by jamming their antiquated, controlling, archaic beliefs down the throats of FREE people whom they’ll NEVER take the time to know! I'm exhausted just WRITING about it!

"And In The End, The Love You Take,
Is Equal To The Love... You Make"

But thankfully, the new generation’s influence is being felt on the home front as this judgment is but a mirror of todays’ NEW society. This decision was yet, another necessary step in that direction, thank god (so to speak), as this writer thinks that it's high time that the church and the government give way to the new generation and get the HELL out of our bedrooms and our lives and refocus their work for the greater good of ALL citizens, as they were elected to do… even for the one's they don't understand.