What Is Sacred, And What Is Sin

California is seen as the liberal state, the hippy state that supports legal marijuana, random tree-sitters, and most of all, the gays. When our state voted to legalize gay marriage, I thought, Finally! This country’s doing something to decrease discrimination and blur those ancient lines between what is sacred and what is sin. But when proposition eight was passed, and the gays were denied their human right to marriage, I lost a lot of faith in our society. I know that the majority of the men and women voting against gay marriage are like my grandparents, old and set in their ways. My grandpa, the Marine veteran, claims that by letting the gays marry, it takes away some of the value and significance of his own marriage. I believe that at some point in the past, more than 50% of the country thought that women were better off not voting, or blacks were better off as slaves, with almost no rights. But with each generation, the perception of what is ethically sound has been reconstructed to fit the needs of the individual, not the reigning religion or government figure.

I don’t necessarily think that people who believe gay marriage is a sin are bad people, but I do believe that they are blind-sighted to the needs of others, because they can’t relate and it doesn’t personally affect them. I believe this quote is relevant:

“They came for the communists and I said nothing, because I wasn’t a communist. They came for the homosexuals and I said nothing, because I wasn’t a homosexual. They came for the Jews and I said nothing, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”

When are we going to stand up for the underdog, the ones who are deserving and rewarding but can’t fight on their own? How are we, as straight people, expected to judge alternative lifestyles? I’m white, and I have no idea what it’s like to be black: but I know that the blacks should have every single right that I do. It is astounding that with the number of people who are completely supportive of gay marriage, it isn’t yet legal. If our country is so wonderful because of our racial and religious tolerances, why can’t we learn to tolerate personal decisions like sexual orientation?