Apparently Brian Williams is telling America that marriage is under attack, and it's got a lot of people upset. I read it on Towleroad and followed the link to GoodAsYou, and then to Youtube. So it must be true. What I missed in all that link-following was a cogent editorial on the subject. Now where exactly was it that a gay person, because we all know what Williams meant, sat down and wrote about what it could mean for everyone who wants to get married to be able to do so.
What exactly would it threaten? Would it, in some way, change the fundamental (now there's a word) way in which our society works? Not that I can see. Would it alter daily life for Americans? Not likely, it wouldn't really affect their SUV's, their cell phones, and their DVD players, so their daily life should go on just fine thank you.
It's about fear. That's what George W. Bush & Co. has preyed upon for 8 years and how he's attained all of his goals. He's drummed in our heads to be afraid, to live in fear, to be convinced that any change to the status quo will spell our doom unless we fight to keep things exactly as they are. Preying upon people's fears is the easiest way to control them and it's worked for this guy.
They've controlled dissent by labeling those who have the temerity to oppose them, as unpatriotic, when in fact they're the most patriotic of all. They've controlled the debate over the war(s) by using the soldiers as bait to hold off their detractors. (if we express dissent, we hate soldiers, or we're trying to starve them etc.) They've controlled the press by labeling them as too liberal and in some misguided effort to demonstrate their willingness to tell both sides of the story they've pandered to the neo-con wishes and only told their side.
See! It works!
And the lemmings that populate our society, who do not understand that this country is founded on the idea that we must embrace a set of values that is, well, revolutionary, continue to misunderstand its most fundamental freedoms and are well on the way to losing it for us all.
Which, of course, brings me right back to railing at the state of education in this country in which we do not, apparently, insist that our students learn History.
The fight for equal rights in this country gives lie to it's very premise. "All men are created equal."
It does NOT say,"All White,Christian,Heterosexual,Males are created equal." Yet everyone who is not White,Male,Christian, and Heterosexual, has had to fight tooth and nail to get even a modicum of the freedoms this country is supposed to afford EVERYONE.
When we are all afforded the protections of the documents that were created to state this country's purpose and to serve as guidelines for future generations, then we all will have something to celebrate. Until we learn that our differences are what makes us unique, and important to history, we will continue to swirl in this maelstrom of bunk perpetuated by those who want to remain in power.
And until we find GLBT citizens willing to take that stand and write cogent editorial on the subject that will make people really consider what is going to be necessary to attain our goals and dreams as Americans, we won't make any progress at all.
Let's hope it doesn't take another revolution to get there.
**Brian Williams has responded to this issue, saying that he did not mean to imply that gay marriage was attacking the institution, but rather that the divorce rate was the problem he was referring to. I am glad he cleared that up. I was misinformed, sorry. The point of the post though, is still worth note I think.
