So what has sparked me to write this? None other than the former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee. Now how could Mike Huckabee, someone who is very against gay marriage:
inspire me to affirm that gay marriage will be legalized? It's easy, the second I saw his Chick-fil-a appreciation day, I realized that the anti-gay marriage groups were deep trouble. Hmm...let me give a little background before I draw the parallel...
Back on July 2, 2012, Dan Cathy, the president and COO of Chick-fil-a did an interview with Ken Coleman where he said "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say 'we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage' and I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about." If you don't believe he really said that, or think I took it out of context, then please click on that link so you can hear it for yourself, along with everything around it in it's full context.
Around July 16, the rest of the world found out that Dan Cathy was just as crazy as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and the LGBT community picked up on it and called for a boycott of chick-fil-a. Well this of course did not set well with Mike Huckabee, who then organized the Chick-fil-a appreciation day for August 1. After all, wasn't Mr. Cathy just exercising his first amendment right to free speech? Well of course he was, he was not using fighting words, he wasn't yelling fire in a crowded building, he had every right in the world to say that! But does that mean what he said must be accepted by everyone? Of course not...and that is where the pro gay-marriage spoke up and said, if Dan Cathy does not support what we consider a right, then we will not support his business with our money. The pro gay-marriage crowd did not say that Dan Cathy had no right to say that, but they confirmed that his speech has consequences. That consequence is a negative backlash from people who do not agree with him. Now, can people attack him, or burn down his stores??? Absolutely not, and anyone who does should be be dealt with harshly and swiftly...but so far there has not been a violent backlash, and I hope there never is, because it is not needed.
So where does the Oracle stand? I disagree with Dan Cathy's stance. I think the legal definition of marriage should be redefined as being allowed between 2 consenting adults, no matter their ethnicity or gender. Why? Because it is one of their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I know, I know, that is just in the declaration of independence and therefore irrelevant, but I still think John Locke was a relatively smart man. Besides, how does the right for a gay person to marry the person they love negatively impact me at all? Please, in the comments, list every way it negatively impacts me, I need to know. We all know how it can positively impact gay couples, you know...getting the same rights as a straight couple . And I know about Leviticus, believe me I know, I've read it, many times. I've even read Matthew...you know, the part that says:
- Matthew 5:32
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. (NIV)
Matthew 19:9
I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery. (NIV)
I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery. (NIV)
But wait a minute....we have laws that allow us remarry even if we divorce over "irreconcilable differences", so...now we just pick and choose which parts we can ignore because they don't infringe on our own pursuit of happiness? Sorry, that logic doesn't work with me. The Chick-Fil-A appreciation day was organized because Dan Cathy came out against redefining marriage, not because he exercised his first amendment right, I hope that everyone can understand that.
So now...back to the prediction. Let me just ruin the ending now and say that I think it will take until about 2020 before marriage is completely redefined. That's not the interesting part of this blog post. What I think we witnessed on August 1, 2012, was a parallel to an event on February 10, 1956 in Montgomery, Alabama. Check out a small video clip of the event here and here. Just in case you live in a small bubble with no windows or access to the outside world, on December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for violating segregation laws in Montgomery Alabama. Click that link to read the entire timeline....but pay special attention to February 10, 1956. On that day, there was a rally held at the coliseum in Montgomery by the White Citizens' Council. Now, don't get me wrong, this was a HUGE rally. Reports say that 12,000 people showed up to listen to Senator James Eastland, Mayor Gayle, and the Sheriff speak...against desegregation. Do you see where I am going now? The rally in favor of Chick-fil-a is not unprecedented, but it does show a struggle of the status quo to keep a strangle hold on society. We all know what happened. The supreme court struck down segregation of buses, just like it did of schools in Brown vs. Board of Education, and slowly but surely, the rest became history. But it wasn't until 1964, a full 8 years later, that the civil rights act was passed. That is where I get my 2020 prediction, a full 8 years (or 2 presidential terms...) before the nation fully realizes that taking away someone else's rights does nothing to advance their own. BTW, if gay marriage is legalized nationally before then, I am also going to consider this prediction as correct. So now all we have to do is sit back and wait...right??? No...get out there and support your fellow human being for them to have the equal right to pursue happiness in this free country.
