Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Incredibles

I was thinking last night about Prop 8. In all honesty I have never felt like such a horrible hateful person in all my life. The media and blogs have done a great job of making Prop 8 about hate. If you vote yes that means you hate gay people. It is trying, and it would be so much easier to throw my hands in the air and give up. It is not fun being viewed this way when I try so hard to be friendly to all people no matter what.

This maybe an imperfect analogy but it came to me and I thought I would share it. In the movie Incredibles, towards the end Syndrome is sharing his plan. He wanted to create all these cool trinkets that allowed him to be like the super hero. Then he plans to sell them to everyone. Then he states "When everyone is super it will make nobody super" Or something similar. I love that quote for so many reasons. I usually associate it with comparing myself to other moms. There are a million super moms that have qualities I wish I had. But if we were all the same we would have nothing to offer. We have all been given gifts and attributes that make us, EVERYONE, super in our own unique ways.

So thinking of marriage, it is special because it has been kept unique in that it is between a man and a woman. For a lot of people it is thought of as sacred. I know the "super" analogy makes it seem like I think marriage is "super" and those who aren't or can't are not worthy or less then those who are married. That is not how I feel. I want to keep marriage as that sacred union that has been honored for centuries. Why can't there be a new legal union that allows people with differing opinions on what marriage should be have their own special, or sacred term? Am I hateful for wanting to protect that? If prop 8 fails, am I going to raise a fit and start egging people who want to be married to the same gender, or start making fun of them, or ostracizing them? The answer is no. Or if it passes am I going to stick out my tongue and say neener-neener. There is no celebratory side on this particular issue some one is going to be sad which makes me sad. I have no desire to be mean to anyone even if their views and beliefs differ from mine. I respect their opinion. I would also hope that standing up and acting upon my beliefs instead of hiding them or going with the flow to avoid persecution would be honorable too. However I know with my vote that I am standing up for what I believe, and am defending it with the rights I have been given as a citizen of this country.

1 comment:

Cory and Becca said...

I appreciate your comments. It is important to remember that although this Prop 8 vote has been able to add contention and hate, MANY even on both sides of the equation have heavy hearts towards the outcome with no malice towards the opposing party. Which it is nice to remember that there are those on both sides that still have dignity and civility despite how easy it is to see the opposite.

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