Stalin mocks right-wing hysteria
As my regular blog readers know, Stalin is currently engaged in a battle of ideas with right-wingers in the fair blue state of California. Well, it's not so much a battle of ideas as it is a very one-sided argument that pits logic, law, morality and basic human decency against the stale canon of talking points that purports to be reactionary thinking today. Consider the most recent item of controversy, in which the reactionaries are up in arms about an innkeeper breaking his state's laws - which they're encouraging.
Next, the idea that breaking the law is fine if that "opposes homosexuality". First, that's pretty ineffective opposition; I doubt that those two lesbians are going to go home, think the whole carpet-munching thing through, and decide to go straight. That's just not how it works. Second, if we assume, just for the sake of argument, that gay people are gay not because of a conscious, reversible decision, then it appears that singling them out for unequal treatment does not provide effective "oposition to homosexuality", does not pass basic constitutional muster under the 14th amendment, and is morally highly dubious.
There's an interesting book that these reactionaries might want to read. Here's a quote: "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake". The guy that said that was a liberal Jew who also had some problems with innkeepers at a young age; he went on to say "whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to Me." I kind of doubt he would see things in this matter as the reactionaries do; this guy was pretty much a hippie when it came to treating people fairly and with kindness, and the book reports he only got really angry once, when he threw the moneychangers out of the temple.
So, innkeepers, just do your job and be glad you're getting paid for it. Also, be glad, or rather, hope - what with eight children and all - that your local Catholic priest isn't one of those that have lustful designs on your kids. And if you oppose homosexuality, odds are, with eight kids, you'll be doing some revisiting of that idea when one of your boys comes home with the captain of the high school football team, and asks you to do his civil union ceremony at Ye Olde Inn.
Couple with eight children doesn’t want to promote homosexuality.Okay, where to begin? First, the persecuted innkeeper. There's a concept in common law - one that I'm sure the closet Bolshevik quoted here knows about - known as equal access to public accomodation. What this means is that, if you offer a service to the public, under common law, you must offer that service to anyone willing and able to pay for it, unless providing such service itself runs afoul of common law. That's why we don't have segregated lunch counters anymore, even in most of the red states. Are gay people part of the public, or not?
Homosexual activists have targeted a small, family-owned inn in Vermont and are threatening its owners with financial ruin if they do not provide planning, resources and accommodation for a same-sex civil union ceremony. [...]
“This case seeks to authorize the government to become thought police,” Matthew D. Staver, president and general counsel for Liberty Counsel, which is representing the couple, told Concerned Women for America’s Culture & Family Institute. [...] “This case is about forcing others to endorse same-sex unions.” [...]
Next, the idea that breaking the law is fine if that "opposes homosexuality". First, that's pretty ineffective opposition; I doubt that those two lesbians are going to go home, think the whole carpet-munching thing through, and decide to go straight. That's just not how it works. Second, if we assume, just for the sake of argument, that gay people are gay not because of a conscious, reversible decision, then it appears that singling them out for unequal treatment does not provide effective "oposition to homosexuality", does not pass basic constitutional muster under the 14th amendment, and is morally highly dubious.
There's an interesting book that these reactionaries might want to read. Here's a quote: "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake". The guy that said that was a liberal Jew who also had some problems with innkeepers at a young age; he went on to say "whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to Me." I kind of doubt he would see things in this matter as the reactionaries do; this guy was pretty much a hippie when it came to treating people fairly and with kindness, and the book reports he only got really angry once, when he threw the moneychangers out of the temple.
So, innkeepers, just do your job and be glad you're getting paid for it. Also, be glad, or rather, hope - what with eight children and all - that your local Catholic priest isn't one of those that have lustful designs on your kids. And if you oppose homosexuality, odds are, with eight kids, you'll be doing some revisiting of that idea when one of your boys comes home with the captain of the high school football team, and asks you to do his civil union ceremony at Ye Olde Inn.
posted by Michael at 12:30 AM
<< Home