Gay marriage now just one vote shy of becoming law in New York despite Archbishop Dolan's objections
[NY] Sen. Roy McDonald (R-Saratoga) - in a dramatic reversal from his earlier opposition - became the second GOPer in as many days to give his blessing to same-sex nuptials, bringing Senate support to 31 votes.
"I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."
and in the same story, here's the quote that probably pissed him off enough to take such a stand.
McDonald's change of heart came hours after Archbishop Timothy Dolan led a band of religious groups hustling to halt the momentum.
"The stampede is on," Dolan wrote in a blog post. "Our elected senators who have stood courageous in their refusal to capitulate on the state's presumption to redefine marriage are reporting unrelenting pressure to cave in."Dolan equated the move to allow same-sex marriage to life in China or North Korea, where "government presumes daily to 'redefine' rights, relationships, values and natural law.""Please, not here!," Dolan wrote. "We cherish true freedom, not as the license to do whatever we want, but the liberty to do what we ought."
Yeah, that scores about 9.5 on the Orwell scale, doesn't it?
If "true freedom" means living the way people such as Dolan (or indeed, people such as myself) think we ought, perhaps we shoud worry less about the definition of marriage and more about the definition of Freedom. And Liberty. And the Pursuit of Happiness.
Perhaps other citizens should also consider what other words are being "redefined."
Rule of Law, for example. It does not mean "the laws we write to rule you."
"Freedom of Religion," for another. Freedom of religion means just that. It doesn't mean YOUR freedom to impose conditions upon me that make your religiously mandated sacrifices less painful. If you think you will go to hell for wanting a same-sex relationship - well, fine. But like living a Kosher life, it's harder for some than others and you don't get a vote on whether I get bacon with my eggs.
Frankly, it reveals to me a desperate confusion between "faith" and "conformity."
And if this threatens society as you know it - well, you know, I've lived in this society, I know it too. Frankly, the worst parts of it are composed of the people that worry the most about that. In my humble opinion. And frankly, I'd like a little less comfort for people who would drag people I like more behind their pickups, if they thought they could get away with it.
More pointedly, if your current heterosexual marrage would be threatened by the possibility of same sex marriage - maybe you should just give up pretending. Take your "handball buddy" on a little trip to Canada after the least awkward no-fault divorce you can manage. ProTip: A same sex marriage from Canada is legal in all fifty states.
If "true freedom" means living the way people such as Dolan (or indeed, people such as myself) think we ought, perhaps we shoud worry less about the definition of marriage and more about the definition of Freedom. And Liberty. And the Pursuit of Happiness.
Perhaps other citizens should also consider what other words are being "redefined."
Rule of Law, for example. It does not mean "the laws we write to rule you."
"Freedom of Religion," for another. Freedom of religion means just that. It doesn't mean YOUR freedom to impose conditions upon me that make your religiously mandated sacrifices less painful. If you think you will go to hell for wanting a same-sex relationship - well, fine. But like living a Kosher life, it's harder for some than others and you don't get a vote on whether I get bacon with my eggs.
Frankly, it reveals to me a desperate confusion between "faith" and "conformity."
And if this threatens society as you know it - well, you know, I've lived in this society, I know it too. Frankly, the worst parts of it are composed of the people that worry the most about that. In my humble opinion. And frankly, I'd like a little less comfort for people who would drag people I like more behind their pickups, if they thought they could get away with it.
More pointedly, if your current heterosexual marrage would be threatened by the possibility of same sex marriage - maybe you should just give up pretending. Take your "handball buddy" on a little trip to Canada after the least awkward no-fault divorce you can manage. ProTip: A same sex marriage from Canada is legal in all fifty states.
No comments:
Post a Comment