Part of me wants to be snarky. Part of me wants to cry. Part of me figures laughing might be the entirely best solution, since laughter is better for me than crying or being snarky. The US Supreme Court made gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Whether or not that was a sound Constitutional decision or not is left to far greater legal minds than my own. I do think that whenever possible we should avoid undercutting the democratic process, but again, it's much better for me to leave those things to the scholars.
Snark, crying and laughter aside, can we finally put away the outrage machine now? Can everyone do that?
It seems in this country, when something people want finally comes to fruition, even that is not enough. We fought the civil war more than 100 years ago. The civil rights act was passed 50 years ago. And yet, I keep hearing that we are still a racist country. That racism is in our DNA. That things really aren't that great. Seriously? No one alive today in America has experienced slavery under the banner of the United States. No one. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who actually has interacted with anyone who did. Slavery in America is dead, people, and it has been for so long that we actually feel justified into tossing the charges of bigotry and racism around as if they mean absolutely nothing. People are so busy being outraged here, that they have saved little outrage for places where true slavery still exists. Are the people in this country who are burning down their own cities aware that 14.3 million people in India live in slavery? Real slavery still exists. Yes, there are still racists and they live everywhere, not just in the USA. But for the majority of the western world, racism is unacceptable behavior, and the vast majority of people, even white people, are long past it.
Then we have the still boiling feminist movement, you know who I'm talking about. The ones who start foaming at the mouth over shirts, makeup, armpit hair, and that guy who held the door for them. The entirety of the movement should buy stock in fainting couches with all the oppression they see in this country. They aren't really oppressed, but shhhh...don't tell them that. They rage over the non-existent pay gap, the rape culture that's a figment of their imagination, and they truly feel they are the only human beings harassed. The feminist movement of today is fighting a battle they never realize has already been won. Won by our mothers and grandmothers. Yes, ladies, there are still misogynstic pigs out there, but it seems we've also added a whole group of misandry-filled miss piggy's to the mix. It's not enough to be equal, now we have to better. And if we can't really be equal, well, just change the standards so we can still be "equal." Just...no. If you really want to feel like a second-class citizen you ought to try Yemen, Pakistan, Iran or Syria.
And finally, on to that group who won their battle today in the Supreme Court.
The gay marriage movement has won. Gay people can now be legally married in 50 states. It's what they wanted, can we all now be happy, or something? Or are people going to sue every baker, florist, photographer and maybe Pastor who doesn't fall into line? Now that gay marriage is legal, opression is a thing of the past. No, everyone is not going to agreee with your lifestyle choice, but this is America. They are allowed to not agree. But the basic rights, well, gay people have them all. Oppression of homosexuals is not the business of the USA, but, it is the business of others...countries like Russia and Turkey, where you can be gay, if you don't mind being brutally beaten, stabbed, sliced, or shot. Or places like India, Jamaica, Uganda, or Iran where being gay means prison or death. ISIS throws homosexuals off of buildings. That is oppression and bigotry. The Pastor of your local Baptist church refusing to marry you? Not oppression. (For the record, in the church where I grew up there was no hypocrisy like I'm seeing others accuse Christians of having. Divorced people couldn't get married there either.)
So, can the outrage just stop now? Can we move along? Because there are serious battles for real human rights to be fought, serious battles for the freedom of the men and women being enslaved, mistreated and even killed, and those battles aren't here.
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