www.mormonsstoleourrights.com/
This post is in response to my friend's post about this link. I started to reply in her comments, but it rolled into a rant and a little more of a discussion. So I am posting it here instead. So here goes.
While I am very sad that the Prop 8 was passed, and it disheartens me to see this in an America that just elected an African American President in the same breath takes away a group of people's rights. While it saddens me that this is mostly a religious agenda, and not just the Mormons, I can't think of signing something that discredits the entire religious organization, because of a few branches of their religion. In the words of this site, they want to "Strip the Mormon church of its status as a religious organization." I don't believe this is the right thing to do. I don't think I could bring myself to sign something like that. Besides that, I don't believe that the sole reason that Prop 8 passed is because of the Mormon church.
I think that this has a lot to do with scared people and people who think that they are in the century when people are not created equal and that they are better than some. They feel that they are educated enough to say that gay couples would not make better parents for adopted children than those parents who leave their kids in dumpsters and they made that baby with a man and a woman. People are not educated enough to understand that gay people are people too and we are not doing anything that would hurt straight people's rights. We just want rights of our own.
And while I think it totally whacked out that there are states that decided there need not be limits on the number of abortions a person can have or can allow doctor assisted suicide in some states, but it is a -bad- thing to allow gay people the same rights and priveleges as straight couples.
These are the things that I just don't understand.
Now, I seriously asked myself these questions:
1. Do I believe in abortion for myself? No.
2. Do I think that others should have the right to do with their body as they wish? Yes.
3. Do I agree with doctor assisted suicides? I suppose it depends on the circumstances, and the person's situation. I don't think i would agree with it for myself, but that doesn't mean that I think it would be a good idea to tell people what they can and cannot do with respect to their life and their death.
4. Do I agree with any of the religious affiliations right now that decide that they should speak for God and judge people with the "telephone game" translated versions of the Bible and their own perceptions and translations of the way things are said in the Bible? No.
However, being in a religious affiliation means that you have beliefs that you agree with the church on and those that you don't. I have an overbearing father who thinks I am going to Hell because I love a woman. Do I agree with him? No. I don't. Sometimes, I let his words get to me, and I get a little frightened and then I remember what I have told myself from day one:
God made me the way I am. I am not going to believe that a God that is supposed to be loving and merciful is going to condemn me to Hell because of someone that I love with all of my heart. I don't believe that He cares who I love, whether it be man or woman. And if I continue to remind myself of these things, I won't go crazy with doubt. And I won't resent those people out there who feel like I am lesser than they are because they are a straight couple.
And now, I will say that I am sorry if I have perhaps ruffled some feathers, but this is what I feel. And I don't really care what other people think. I think it sucks that I can't get married when I want to. And the whole concept of marriage is not that big of a deal, but it is something that is more the principal of the matter. It means that I don't get the same rights as every straight person in the country. That's not fair. Pure and simple.