I have been reading and hearing who's the blame about the passing of Prop 8. Yes the numbers show that Blacks and Latinos were the big supporters. But before this game gets too big. I still want to push the deeper issue, which is religion.
Religion drove the folks to vote for Prop 8, yes hate and foolishness too, but religion played a stronger role here. It's no secret how Christians, Mormons, and other groups view us. We are lost causes, demons, abominations, spawns and everything else in the book. I wasn't too surprised at the results. I knew 'the power of Christ' would come through, but I guess I'm a little shocked at the blame thrown at us. I am disappointed in my people, but I understand their warp sense of reason.They think they were serving God, but in reality they were warped by religious mess.
But I have to ask, did we forget to go into the Black and Latino communities to campaign? I remember seeing more campaigning in Beverly Hills than Crenshaw. And there wasn't a lot education about Prop 8 in the hood, except from the churches, and we saw how that went.
So I'll stop there, because there are several reason why this happen. And think we need to have a minute to really look into other possibilities instead of looking at the easy ones.
5 comments:
You make a very good point. The people who voted this voted because their pastors told them to.
My father is a clear example. He gave money to a proposal that was against gay marriage. I found out about it on knowthyneighbor.
Called him on it and asked how he could do such a thing knowing his own son was gay and involved with someone for 15 years.
He went back on "my pastor told us to do it." and he wouldn't back down from that.
I told him he was a weak minded idiot for listening to his racist ass pastor.
My father knows better now. But it's too late, I've pretty much cut him out of my life.
I agree, the role religion plays in the African-American community in particular played a big part in getting Prop 8 passed. Of course the fact that there was not enough advertising in the areas heavily populated and targeted specifically to minorities did not help, when they had (for years) priests indoctrinating them into believing that homosexuality was sinful.
I wrote a bit more about this here:
"Black Homophobia": Prop 8 and the search for its scapegoat
Great blog by the way.
I've been thinking about the whole "religion vs. gays" dynamic, a LOT.
The evangelicals -- with their very specific (although NOT literal) -- interpretation of the Bible, have decided to make us a target, so they can have an enemy to rage against. Not to mention, it's a sure-fire way to raise oodles of tax-free money. (And might I add, if your faith fills you with rage, then maybe you're doing it wrong.) So it's only natural that many gays would feel an antipathy towards Christianity in general, rather than towards specific anti-gay sects. And confident, out gays have no problem with voicing their opinions re: Christianity. So I think that between the two groups, the general public has the impression that gay = anti-Christian.
I'm an atheist. When I came out last year, I had a lot of resentment towards Christianity, because of all the horrible lies said about gays by evangelical/fundamentalist demagogues. However, I soon discovered that nearly every gay person I met in this area was a devout Christian! Most of them were involved with the MCC or with other gay-friendly churches. Although there were some (extremely screwed-up) Catholics, as well. While I still don't agree with many aspects of Christianity (and religion in general), my attitude towards it has softened to the point where I can agree that it has many fine qualities, and that most of the people who practice it are well-meaning and kind.
I think most straights don't know about the sheer numbers of gay Christians. I'm willing to be that most LGBT folks are religious -- and in this country, most of them are probably Christians. I think that if the average American knew that, they wouldn't be so opposed to us having equal rights. It may also help to have gay Christians more publicly and nationally making their case about why the Bible isn't anti-Gay. Because they have some very strong arguments. Just face the bigots head-on, and let the middle-of-the-road "kind of religious" voter see that the evangelicals don't have a monopoly on Christianity.
We'll never be able to reach the evangelicals, unfortunately. Their leaders have conditioned them to be not only anti-science, but also anti-reason. I've tried talking to people like that; it can't be done. They have a permanent chant of "La, la, la, I can't hear you, I can't hear you" going on in their heads. They truly believe that they are an embattled minority (HA!) and that the entire world is against them. It's this ingrained victim mentality that lets them feel free to demonize their fellow human beings and to feel no shame about destroying LGBT families. But there are plenty of other Christians out there. And even among the groups that are officially anti-Gay, there are plenty of free-thinkers. American Catholics are notoriously independent of the Pope. (Granted, the Knights of Columbus were huge contributors to the "Yes on 8" campaign.)
I read some interesting points about the "No on 8" campaign, like how they SOLD yard signs, instead of giving them away for free like the "Yes" people did. And even then, folks were limited to two. It sounds like the "No on 8" campaign could have benefited from a grassroots approach, like the Obama campaign did.
You know, when I think about all the Hispanic Catholics and Christians I know, and how gay-friendly and accepting they are, it's hard to swallow that a huge percentage of them voted against us.
But, even in my own discussions regarding Prop 8, I, too, focused mostly on religous caucasians. I think we took our fellow minorities' support for granted.
In their defense, however, I must say that a few signs and commercials are nothing compared to the messages they get EVERY Sunday at church.
I don't blame the ignorant, I blame the people who feed off their ignorance.
I agree with you. My problem is the ignorance in people who blindly stick by their prejudices regardless of whether it is taught in the churches or passed on down through the families. Being told that "we choose to be gay" is just as insulting as blacks or asians being told they are inferior to whites. None of it makes any sense. When religions cross over and affect politics, they need to lose their tax-exempt status, in my opinion. Preaching hate against gays and lesbians and then ignoring adultry, and divorce is hypocritical. Homosexuality didn't even make it into the "top Ten Commandments", but adultry and bearing false witnesses certainly did.
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