Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Marriage Equality

Marriage equality is now in the hands of the US Supreme Court.  Equality is easy and if the court rules on the US Constitution and not on any religious document then these cases should be easy as well. Let's hope they do the right thing.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The Slippery Slope

Over the last election and the coverage of the deciding issues, one thing stands out to me when it comes to the GOP - they fear the "slippery slope".   To them one thing will certainly lead to another and soon we all end up in Hell.  Allow gay marriage?  What's next - marrying your dog?  Legalize pot?  What's next - cocaine? Meth??  You get the picture.

I'd like to put their fears to rest.  There is no slope - slippery or not.  In fact it is more like a staircase - and the best news is that the stairs usually go up - not down.  You deal with one issue at a time and then you move on. Go ahead and have that discussion about gay marriage - and when it is settled hopefully we have taken a step up.  Everyone is still standing - it's OK.  You can even rest on that step for a while - relax, it's safe.  Now you say you still want to marry your dog?  Ok - let's discuss that.  When the discussion is over we can either take a step down, a step up, or even stay right where we are.  It's not slippery - it's very stable.

The important thing to remember is that equality means we are all standing on the same step.  When progress is made we all step up together.  If failure occurs we all take a step down.  The only time we slip is when we have inequality. 

If you live in the world of the slippery slope - you cannot advance forward because you will always slip back.  The stairs, however, make progress quite easy.

WHEN it happens again.......

Harry Reid removed the assault weapon ban from the gun legislation being proposed because he didn't think he could possibly get the votes to pass it.  Perhaps not - but when (not if) the next unfortunate mass shooting occurs, we COULD have said we tried.

I believe in the right to bear arms.  I am from a family of hunters and also believe in self defense.  We can have rights and limits at the same time - they can co-exist.  When the gun lobby is more powerful than the government - we have a problem.  America slips further into the darkness when Senators value their jobs over the lives of their fellow citizens.  This is wrong.  Terribly wrong.