This is an interesting time to be alive. I’m pretty sure someone said those exact words in 1971, 1939, 1918, 1877, 1859, 1789, 1775, 1650… You get the idea. Actually, watching the world change is really cool, and quite terrifying at the same time. Islamic State fighters have taken over towns in the north of Syria, disguised as Kurdish soldiers. And Myanmar’s military has retained veto power over that country’s parliament. This is some pretty serious shit! Nevermind that for now, because in the US, the Affordable Care Act has been upheld, especially regarding subsidies, and the Confederate flag is being taken down in many places in the Southern US. Also, marriage equality was made the law of the land. So, a pretty interesting week.
This last thing, though. A lot of people were pretty upset about gay marriage being a thing. And they’ve been complaining that it “attacks the sanctity of marriage” for years. Notably, people like Newt Gingrich were extremely (and hypocritically) against the rights of gay people to marry. He himself having been divorced twice! Well, I won’t judge him, even though I can, justifiably, on the grounds that my wife and I have been married nearly 24 years. Well, I said I wouldn’t do that.
The main argument many people have against the homosexual lifestyle, as they probably imagine it, is that the Bible calls it a sin. Well, actually, it doesn’t. I’m no Bible scholar, but I have read a lot of this book. Interestingly, it’s not a single work – rather, it is a collection of many holy texts that were circulating in the Mediterranean region for centuries up to the formation of a first canon of scripture. In fact, there are at least ten bibles currently in use. The point is, if you are going to cite scriptural references for an argument, it helps to have some bearing of what those scriptures mean. The meanings of passage after passage are intensely debated by scholars – people who actually know what they’re talking about – not the average Facebook user.
But in my Zen-Christian approach to this world, I have always stepped back from the issue and just sat and observed. I see that change is inevitable, like the seasons or the movement of the planets. It is a juggernaut, unable to be stopped. It will ease your soul to accept that. Many years ago, people with brown skin (like my dad’s) were not served in restaurants, and they could not participate in elections, and they had to use separate toilets and go to separate schools. Many people who had slightly lighter skin believed this was all part of God’s plan, and that it was preordained and right. Fortunately, there was justice, and even though the people descended from African slaves and people descended from Native Americans are still marginalized and denied equality and fairness, progress is still being made. Change will come.
My Christian upbringing taught me that no one is perfect except God. But other teachings lead me to believe that perfection is attainable, perhaps not for ourselves as individuals, but as a race, a species. I look at other organisms on our world, and I see they are perfect. The blue whale. The Queen Victoria agave. The Mexican free-tailed bat. The king cobra. Humans are not perfect, but this assessment comes from ourselves. We are harsh judges. Sure, we have a lot of frailties and some pretty unattractive qualities, like greed or jealousy. Other creatures seem to possess these, too. But it doesn’t mean they are not perfect. We may be perfect someday. First we have to get rid of some trash. Get rid of things we don’t need or that are cluttering up our lives. It will take generations to achieve, but I can see that it’s already happening.
What really determines how you think goes back to how you were raised. You have the power within you to reach farther and break out of your conditioning. Your parents and their parents and the people in their community may have told you it was wrong to be left-handed or that you shouldn’t like someone who is the same sex. They might have said you shouldn’t swim right after you eat, and that is based on old wives’ tales. Interracial marriage was still banned in the South until 1967, within my lifetime! Some so-called Christians are still opposed to it to this day. I’m sure they can find some Bible passage that says how it is an abomination. Well, so is wearing blended fabric and cutting your sideburns.
To my Conservative friends and family: I want you to know that I do not perceive a threat to “traditional” marriage. By the way, some of you might want to look that term up. It might surprise you. If you feel threatened, I suggest you talk to somebody. Change can be a scary thing. Many of my friends and my family are celebrating today. Around the world, people seem to be focusing on the ISIS massacre and Syrian refugees and other injustices. I think it’s great that we have marriage equality in the US. When the party’s over, can we start working on ending homelessness and hunger and poverty? Contrary to what the Bible says, I think we can do it.
Bebop Marmaduke 