There’s no escaping it. For the next couple of months, we will be bombarded with claims and counter-claims, filled with truth, half-truth and outright lies. Unfortunately, that’s what election time has become in this country.
If you listen to an election news report in the coming weeks for five minutes and you don’t hear something about same sex marriage, you probably have somehow tuned in a report from Mars. It seems that way too many candidates for different offices have abandoned taking the true high road and have decided to take the easy road in campaign rhetoric. You can usually spot them. They’re the ones whose mouths are wide open, faces beet-red with one or two veins popping out on the sides of their heads. In most cases, they vow to make same sex marriages illegal in this country.
I’ve written in this space before about my beliefs on the subject. I may or may not agree that two people of the same sex should marry, but I do believe that the government should not be making that decision. If two people agree that they want to make a lifetime commitment to each other, the only thing the government should do is affirm that right – not through marriage, which is best handled in a church – but by a civil union document.
The arguments for and against same sex unions seem so simple. But when you get Washington or Des Moines involved, suddenly it becomes very complicated. Unfortunately, that’s how so many of our laws are. For instance, do away with the state and federal income tax and replace it with a sales tax that can’t be tampered with through exceptions by the legislature or Congress and suddenly our state and national representatives could cut their time in Des Moines or Washington by about half.
Why is it that so many of us have to have some cause to become completely insane about? Ask someone who is campaigning against allowing same sex unions how granting this right will be harmful to them and they will say that it harms traditional marriage. With this nation’s high divorce rate, how is same sex union any worse? Ask any of these zealots if they would ever try to tell someone if they should be a Catholic or a Baptist or a Lutheran and they would say that should be left up to each individual’s conscience. So why should same sex unions be any different?
I have a theory about why there is so much talk about this subject on the campaign trail. The candidates whose main goal is to deny this right are not equipped to solve many of this country’s more pressing problems. We don’t know how to solve this nation’s economic problems, but we do know if we prohibit same sex unions, the world will be a brighter place. We might jump on the wacko bandwagon which is still questioning whether our president was born in this country, but we don’t have a clue on how we can bring an end to terrorism.
We all need a project of some kind. It’s one way to give us a purpose for getting up each morning. All I’m saying is our project should not tread on the rights of others. Maybe we don’t have an answer on how we can end our involvement in Afghanistan. But a lot of us know someone who is deployed in that region. Why not channel some of our energy to raising funds and helping to pack care packages for the soldiers? If you don’t have the resources or the time to help in this way, you certainly have a moment to pray for their safe return.
On a lighter note, if you are a conspiracy nut, why not investigate why companies, especially food companies, are decreasing the amount of product they are selling us for the same money as before. A half-gallon of ice cream is now 1.75 quarts. A pound of coffee is now just over 11 ounces and falling. There’s more water in that can of green beans or tuna than there was a few years ago. How’s that for a conspiracy?
If you still insist on participating in this crazy election game, go to rallies or town meetings of legislative or congressional candidates and if there is a question and answer session, ask the tough questions. Ask them about their plan on improving our state or national economy and putting us all back to work. Ask the Congressional candidates what is their plan for ending our war in the Middle East. Ask them if they endorse a simplified revenue system, such as the national sales tax, etc.
If they don’t have a ready answer and insist on returning to the same sex argument, get up and leave.
