A sweary—and expertly punctuated—weblog.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Peaceable assembly

Today's topic is sufficiently controversial that I feel the need for a disclaimer. My goal is to (forcefully, perhaps) speak my mind, not to insult people. I realize that many reading this strongly disagree with my position. Please believe me when I say that I do not intend to offend.

If you're LDS--in California or not--you probably were looking forward to election day as the end of the Proposition 8 wars. Sadly, you were mistaken: Prop. 8 is as contentious now as it has ever been. People are already calling for its repeal, and protests against its supporters--particularly the LDS church--have increased in frequency and severity. In response, the LDS community is largely crying foul, claiming that the protests are tantamount to religious persecution.

Blunty put, I disagree. It makes perfect sense for the 'No on 8' community to focus their protests on the LDS church. Further, rather than treating protesters as religious persecutors, LDS members need to show them proper respect--in spite of their deep ideological differences.

[Disclaimer 2: I didn't support Prop. 8, and I wish that the church hadn't gotten so involved. But I maintain that this doesn't compromise my commitment to the LDS faith. It's quite possible (and usually the right answer, if you ask me) to disagree with a particular lifestyle choice without supporting a constitutional amendment restricting the expression of that lifestyle.]

I'll argue my second point first. People have every right to protest whomever they want, for whatever reason they want, as long as they do so peacefully. Same-sex marriage advocates have every right to protest around LDS temples and boycott businesses owned by church members. That's not exactly groundbreakingly insightful, of course, so I'll go further: LDS members need to respect the legitimacy of their perspective. You might wish they wouldn't protest against the LDS faith in particular, or you might even wish that they would agree with you on this controversial issue. But none of that should stop you from respecting the fact that same-sex marriage supporters feel just as strongly about their convictions as you do about yours. You could even admire them--at least a little--for standing up for what they believe in.

I concede that it would help if the 'No on 8' crowd showed more respect. Surely they can oppose the policy of the LDS church while still respecting its beliefs. (I saw a photo of a protester, for example, whose sign went something like "Keep your magic underwear out of our bedrooms", which is needlessly insulting.) It's also insulting that Prop. 8 supporters have been painted by default with the "homophobic" brush. I know plenty of Prop. 8 supporters, and they simply aren't homophobes. In spite of all this, however, LDS members should still show respect--even if the favor isn't returned.

(Disclaimer 3: I don't in any way condone or advise respect towards those who have damaged property or made threatening statements in their protests. Neither should same-sex marriage advocates. As far as I'm aware, though, such protests are the exception. And at least one 'No on 8' group has spoken up against them.)

Now I'll address the claim that the LDS church has been unfairly singled out for protest. The usual argument is that the LDS church is only one of many religious groups endorsing Prop. 8, and that African-Americans and Hispanics overwhelmingly supported the proposition. Why aren't protesters setting up shop outside Catholic masses and black churches?

More bluntness: it's hard for me to see this defense as anything other than ideological cowardice. Where else should protesters go? No one else gave as much money or supported the measure as conspicuously and uniformly. No one else comes close. The Catholic church may have endorsed the measure, but Catholics didn't give the support--in dollars OR votes--that LDS members gave. A solid majority of blacks may have voted for Prop. 8, but they didn't donate significant effort and money to the Prop. 8 cause. It's quite possible, even, that Prop. 8 would have failed without the efforts of the LDS church. So LDS members who fought for Prop. 8 should bloody well stick to their guns and admit that they wielded strong influence in getting Prop. 8 passed. If anything, they should be taking pride in successfully realizing their convictions. Instead, as opposition intensifies, the effort is to spread the "blame" around, which I find cowardly and evasive.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Texas, our Texas

Texas is a great place to study patriotism gone wrong.

In our Thanksgiving road-tripping, we've seen a few "Texas edition" F-150s and Silverados. As best as I can determine, though, Ford and Chevy don't actually produce Texas edition trucks. It's just a custom decal kit, something you can put on your truck to promote the my-state-can-beat-up-your-state arrogance for which Texas is (justifiably) well-known. And I'll be honest: I'm often convinced that the "everything is bigger in Texas" mentality can only be explained by widespread small-phallus overcompensation. So maybe dealers should put one of these in the glove compartment of each "Texas edition" pickup.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care...

Many of you know that I'm usually annoyed at blogs. I mostly see them as a manifestation of the twitchy narcissism of my generation: "I'm so awesome that all of you should read my scattered thoughts!" And, while I won't pretend to be the humblest guy around, I have no desire to be that vain.

Yet here I am, relenting anyways. I have two reasons. First, people occasionally make me angry, especially in this (post-)election season. People (smart people, even) have said all sorts of absurd, childish things that need to be opposed. By me. But since I'm (healthily, I say) ambivalent politically, I've restricted my opine-ings to random sniping on Facebook posts. But that's not enough anymore. I feel the need for a forum in which to air and refine my arguments. Second, my election-season arguing has reminded me of how much I miss argumentative writing. Writing technical articles is fun and all, but the writing is precise, slightly dry, and not sufficiently impassioned to be satisfying viscerally.

So this isn't going to be one of those blogs where I post photos of myself or write amateur poetry. This is a place for me to express myself when I'm too worked up about something (political or otherwise) to remain silent. And, hopefully, a place to enjoy the process. So don't get too offended when you encounter an occasional 'damn' or 'hell'. It's only for emphasis.