And just when you thought it was safe to go back into society, we get Proposition 8.
Religious leaders, still operating under the wedge tactics of the NeoCons, have manged to succeed where both GOP Presidential and Congressional candidates have failed: they've restarted the "Us against Them" program in America.
Over the boneheaded Proposition 8 ballot question in California, protesters are now standing outside of churches across the country and yelling at parishioners. Most of whom could care less about the vote, and many actually are against it.
But because of the furor and "otherness" of the protesters, the whole congregation moves closer together. They feel as if they're under attack by a force that means to destroy their group. They become single-minded, and may even change their once open minds, in groupthink, to reflect what they're leadership tells them. And if it's anti-gay... you can guess the rest.
Remember 9/11? That's what happened to our Country.
I'm not saying that Proposition 8, having received massive funding by religious organizations, especially the Mormons, is not a huge leap backwards in the progression of Individual Rights to our Citizens, I'm just saying the results that protesting will achieve might just be the exact opposite that were intended.
And by the way Nevada, the Mormon Church was behind the referendum that banned gay marriage in Nevada in 2000. Mormons like Dean Heller and Jim Gibbons were certainly part of the mix in promoting that fateful decision. If you'd like to do something productive, why don't you start working on unelecting both of those two, and create a petition to reverse our own laws. The last time I checked, Reno and Las Vegas were not in California.
Waving signs and lighting candles does nothing. It might be fun and seem important, but people, it's a waste of time and energy. Laws are changed by legislators and referendums, not by chanting in the streets.
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While I agree with your premise, encouraging other people to help change laws and initiate referendums can be accomplished via waving signs and chanting in the streets.
ReplyDeleteShowing people they're part of a whole, part of an organic force for good, gives them impetus beyond what they feel is right - their ideas might have a chance if these other people are along for the ride.
A single-approach solution isn't going to work to unlatch these snakes from our toes.
the only problem with telling people that "they're part of the whole" is that when you stand outside of their church, you scare the crap out of them. Particularly if you are crunchy type person who uses the word "organic force". In fact you scare Zeke.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, if you can tell me one thing that all of the protesting against Bush/Cheney the past eight years has accomplished, I will buy you a beer. I don't think protesting does one damn thing. Unless maybe you climb up into a Redwood and refuse to come down. That is not exactly sign waving, although.
"Waving signs and lighting candles does nothing. It might be fun and seem important, but people, it's a waste of time and energy. Laws are changed by legislators and referendums, not by chanting in the streets."
ReplyDeleteMy god, if I had a dollar every time I said essentially the same thing, I'd have enough money to buy a value meal at a drive-thru--maybe two...
Eventually, people will realize they need to become ACTIVE in their regional politics--and protesting isn't active, it's just busy. Go through the mind numbing test of sitting through city and state council meetings and keeping up on political networking and you start to stand a chance...