At my desk in the sunless depths of the campus library, we have a list of approved activities that you can participate in when there are no patrons to help. One of those activities is reading the news, we being the social sciences department and having an obligation to stay abreast of social happenings. Thus, today I learned that the oil spill in the Gulf isn't as bad as was originally feared, they've caught the perpetrators of a string of murders in Panama, 2010 is the year for weird weather, Proposition 8 has been overturned in California, Michelle Obama is being hailed as a modern "Marie Antoinette," seven puppies were killed on an American Airlines flight...
Wait.
Prop. 8 has been overturned?
I'm sure that many of you recall what a controversy that was back in 2008. Was it really that long ago? Goodness. Anyhow, to cut a long story short, the people of California, or at least, 7,000,000 voters of them, made the decision to ban gay marriage as a legal institution. It was a hard won victory for those determined to support traditional marriage. I know this, because my church was on the front lines of those fighting to get this law passed. Anyone who knows anything about Mormons knows that we are real sticklers for nuclear families. So a lot of us were very vocal about getting Prop. 8 on the law books, despite the overwhelming criticism. And threats. And vandalism of our churches. And angry mobs of protesters. But those were just the extremists, and that's difference of opinion for you.
Whatever your beliefs and/or opinions about gay marriage are, the fact that Proposition 8 has been overturned should be cause for every law-abiding, intelligent American to worry. Why? The headline that caught my eye says it all. "1 Judge voids 7,000,000 voters." One biased judge went up against the entire voting population of California...and won.
What is wrong with this picture?
You could say that it's indicative of how far one group with a vendetta is allowed to go these days. You could say that it's a warning sign that our government is turning towards sacrificing the rights of the many for the desires of the few. You could say that it's a dangerous subversion of the very process of democracy. And you would be right.
And this isn't the first instance that I've read about that has worried me. The government is also backing a lawsuit against one of their own states, and is considering a bill that will allow Obama to shut down the internet on a whim. And who knows what else is going on in Washington right now?
In apology, I didn't intend for my first real post to be an angry political spiel, because that is NOT my forte. At all. I'm just an English major.
Still, being an English major means I can read pretty well.
Everybody start reading the news, because I have the strong feeling that we're all going to need to be very, very aware of what the government is doing these days.
