Friday, February 28, 2014
For all the technology, advancement and 'progress' we humans have created in the last century we are still an amazingly violent species. There are many times when I think all our supposed 'progress' is simply some thin veneer, some sales gimmick pulled over us by a culture at large that is deeply sick, paranoid, angry and reactive. There are plenty of examples lately to choose from as documentary evidence of my perspective.
Anyone following the beloved 'culture wars' here in this country knows that so called anti-discrimination legislation has been in the news lately. Most prominent has been the news out of Arizona where Governor Jan Brewer recently vetoed a bill (SB 1062) that would have allowed people to refuse service to gay people on the basis of their personally held religious beliefs. Much has been said since her veto on Wednesday. Some proponents of the bill seem to think they are being persecuted due to their Christian faith and that the bill's failure is more evidence of the truth of their claim. Somehow some proponents of SB 1062 imagine that their own religious liberty is being trampled upon because they are not being allowed to express their beliefs through the particular act of refusing service to people whose personal lives they do not agree with. Another term for refusing service or access by virtue of some quality of a person is discrimination. I find it interesting how yet again people of the religious 'Right' are making themselves out to be the victims when the bill was focused on reducing access to gays and lesbians!
Some opponents of the bill, while cheering Brewer's decision to veto, have astutely wondered aloud if the real motivation for her veto was the harmful economic impact Arizona would have suffered had the bill passed. Simply put, gay people and their allies would have looked other places to spend their money. And businesses with firm and longstanding non-discriminatory/diversity-inclusive work environment policies would have frowned upon doing business in a state that would permit such exclusion. I believe these observations are indeed very astute and correct. I think the pain this bill would have directly caused the GLBT community was secondary. The almighty dollar unfortunately speaks more to many people's hearts and minds. For the full content of Jan Brewer's statement as she vetoed SB 1062 look here.
The recent uproar recalls the older African American civil rights movement and the pictures from the days in which blacks and whites had separate drinking fountains. Racism is certainly not dead in this country. Homophobia is not dead either. Indeed, homophobia is something the United States exports to other nations! More on that later.
A number of other states have also been in the news due to similar efforts their legislatures have undertaken to craft bills similar to the one recently defeated in Arizona. Georgia and Kansas are but two examples. How the people in the legislatures of such states imagine such bills could possibly have a net positive impact is nearly beyond my comprehension. Growing up I considered Christianity to be a positive term. Then, as I began to hear more about what some people imagine Christianity to be, I began to feel quite differently about the term. I have never understood that the person of Jesus Christ ever advocated exclusion or hate. Indeed, he was reputed to pass his time with many marginalized groups of people such as criminals, prostitutes, the unfaithful, women and so on.
The stench of American-grown hatred is rising up in Uganda as well. I'll write more about that in a coming post. I wasn't even planning to write today!
For all the technology, advancement and 'progress' we humans have created in the last century we are still an amazingly violent species. There are many times when I think all our supposed 'progress' is simply some thin veneer, some sales gimmick pulled over us by a culture at large that is deeply sick, paranoid, angry and reactive. There are plenty of examples lately to choose from as documentary evidence of my perspective.
Anyone following the beloved 'culture wars' here in this country knows that so called anti-discrimination legislation has been in the news lately. Most prominent has been the news out of Arizona where Governor Jan Brewer recently vetoed a bill (SB 1062) that would have allowed people to refuse service to gay people on the basis of their personally held religious beliefs. Much has been said since her veto on Wednesday. Some proponents of the bill seem to think they are being persecuted due to their Christian faith and that the bill's failure is more evidence of the truth of their claim. Somehow some proponents of SB 1062 imagine that their own religious liberty is being trampled upon because they are not being allowed to express their beliefs through the particular act of refusing service to people whose personal lives they do not agree with. Another term for refusing service or access by virtue of some quality of a person is discrimination. I find it interesting how yet again people of the religious 'Right' are making themselves out to be the victims when the bill was focused on reducing access to gays and lesbians!
Some opponents of the bill, while cheering Brewer's decision to veto, have astutely wondered aloud if the real motivation for her veto was the harmful economic impact Arizona would have suffered had the bill passed. Simply put, gay people and their allies would have looked other places to spend their money. And businesses with firm and longstanding non-discriminatory/diversity-inclusive work environment policies would have frowned upon doing business in a state that would permit such exclusion. I believe these observations are indeed very astute and correct. I think the pain this bill would have directly caused the GLBT community was secondary. The almighty dollar unfortunately speaks more to many people's hearts and minds. For the full content of Jan Brewer's statement as she vetoed SB 1062 look here.
The recent uproar recalls the older African American civil rights movement and the pictures from the days in which blacks and whites had separate drinking fountains. Racism is certainly not dead in this country. Homophobia is not dead either. Indeed, homophobia is something the United States exports to other nations! More on that later.
A number of other states have also been in the news due to similar efforts their legislatures have undertaken to craft bills similar to the one recently defeated in Arizona. Georgia and Kansas are but two examples. How the people in the legislatures of such states imagine such bills could possibly have a net positive impact is nearly beyond my comprehension. Growing up I considered Christianity to be a positive term. Then, as I began to hear more about what some people imagine Christianity to be, I began to feel quite differently about the term. I have never understood that the person of Jesus Christ ever advocated exclusion or hate. Indeed, he was reputed to pass his time with many marginalized groups of people such as criminals, prostitutes, the unfaithful, women and so on.
The stench of American-grown hatred is rising up in Uganda as well. I'll write more about that in a coming post. I wasn't even planning to write today!
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