Well I suppose the little Nazi who is now the Pope is happy. He has managed to wiggle in and is on the verge of defeating the Italian government because of his rhetoric on Same Sex Marriage.
The infighting has become so intense Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, a UDEUR member, said Monday he would rather see the government fall than support a bill that he called “immoral”. (story)
What is immoral, is that denial of equality to any minority, irrespective of your religious viewpoint. However, thanks to the Pope and his condemnation and blatant interference in the affairs of independent states, the government of Italy could fall. It sends a signal too, that Governments willing to reach out and bridge gaps between peoples, races, is doomed.
With the world gathering for confrontation between Muslim and Christian and Jew, this is not the time for those avenues of dialogue to be closed, or threatened. Bush has led the world to the brink of total war, and now the Pope has joined him in trying to push the rest over the edge. Far fetched?
Not really, because when decent governments that take pride and care about their own people, the minorities in their own nation, they also become valuable intermediators between other nations. They are more trusted to be impartial, to not be the puppet of some other power. When those government fail, as the current government in Rome might, the world loses one more honest broker. One it cannot afford to lose.
With Russia going around and poisoning those who oppose its regime, with China shooting down satelites, with Iran rushing towards a nucleur bomb and Chavez in South America spending billions to arm himself and terror groups, honest brokers are at a premium. With Bush threatening the entire Middle East and totally ignoring South America, an honest broker is truly a precious commodity. Canada was that once, but until Stephen Harper is gone it isn’t. Britian got suckered and again, until Tony Blair is gone Britian is not a possible contender either. Italy had come to that position and now, thanks to the homophobia of the Pope and others, it too might pass.
So who is left?
I talk a fair amount about bullying, and how it is essential and imperative to have a comprehensive anti bully campaign in the schools. Many agree as the principle is simple really. Show why it is wrong to bully, and it lessens the violence and the racism in society. It makes it so people grow up without the hatred fostered by ignorances. It is why groups like GSA were formed, to educate and illuminate children that being Gay is not a crime, not a horror deserving of punishment and of attack.
Debbie Johnston’s 15-year-old son Jeffrey hanged himself in 2005 when he could no longer bear the treatment he received at school. (story)
If their is real concern to protect children, then anti-bullying laws must be passed and not here and there, but all over the world really. Canada does have one, and it has perhaps helped make this country more accepting of differences than say the United States. While it is not a short term program, the key is that in the long term it builds better citizens and improves our society. Isn’t that what education is really about? To improve and give the upcoming generations a chance?
Whether you agree or not with homosexuality, whether you believe it to be a choice or not, whether you think it is a religious sin or not, the point is that children are being hurt and die from the attacks on them due to their sexuality. These are kids, and their protection should be paramount, yet so many organizations professing to be GOD Fearing oppose including sexuality in any anti-bullying legislation. It is why these bills have taken so long to get to this stage even.
In Iowa, an anti-bullying bill has passed the Senate Education Committee after two years of lobbying by LGBT rights groups. It would protect students on the basis of race, disability and sexuality. (story)
When you hear the horror stories that are the reality of going to school today, how can anyone sleep well? I mean surely society has not gotten that used to the death of children or that complacent that it simply has no effect when children are hurt, all because of some ideological difference? It boggles my mind really, because to me, children are the most precious resource a society has, and yet we put them in harm’s way so readily. I wonder if maybe we, as a society, don’t have a self destructive wish happening.
Children are the future, don’t we want one?
It used to be said of Jews, that they were stiff necked, because of their uncompromising attitude on certain issues, or on their resolve to continue to fight, irrespective of the odds against them winning. I am Jewish, and I get why we are called that. See, we are taught that it is our duty, part of our faith and commitment to the Lord, to attempt to do what is right, to not seek the easy road of life.
Being Gay is not easy, as many will attest. Though it has been relatively calm for me. I don’t have parents who hate me, or friends who despise me for being who I was created to be. Oh I still cringe each time the Pope rails against Gays, because in essence I take it personally. I also get angry, which is the Jewish upbringing in me at a man who is supposed to speak for GOD, but instead speaks and does the work of the Devil himself.
Once more the Pope is out there, on his public pulpit telling people that GOD has divined that marriage and traditional family values are the exclusive rights of heterosexual’s. He is out there continuing to further the causes of Racism and Bigotry with his constant attack on people who simply are what they are. He can’t see that, nor is he willing to believe that his interpretation could be wrong.
“The union occurs because of the design by God, who has created them male and female and gives them the power to unite those natural and complementary dimensions forever,” he said. (story)
If this is a plan by God, someone needs to let the Pope know that Gays are God’s creation as well. He made us, and it is rather hard to fathom that any Supreme Being would create us, as a joke or as some handy whipping child. This is what the Pope and his followers forget, or do they? I wonder if perhaps that is exactly what they think, given how much they spend fighting against Gays obtaining equality in society.
There are some who might think I have a fixation on this, that I am unwilling to bend, to make a compromise. They would be right in that I won’t compromise on this issue, nor should I or any true believer in GOD or in Freedom. Racism is not a Godly trait, and yet as a result of this continued attack by the Pope and others, Gays are placed at risk. Their health, their very existence is at risk, and you know, it is really no different than the attacks made against Jews by Hitler and the Nazis.
It really isn’t and we all know where that led to. If you seriously doubt it would happen again, look around you. Look at the way America is acting, threatening Iran, Syria and stuck in a quagmire in Iraq. Warrant-less wiretaps, no fly lists of people no one knows about, secret prisons without due process, amendments to deny equal rights to a minority.Take a close look at the Sudan, at the Congo, and then look back not long ago to Rwanda and Croatia.
Can it happen again? IT IS.
