I have read the following interesting articles lately.
Utah: Where the con is on
Utah Mormons have at least one glaring fault. They are gullible, and overly trusting.
Where's the Global Warming?
Is the Boston Globe wising up? Even this lefty newspaper is having its doubts.
The last paragraph is a zinger!
Gay Marriage vs. Democracy
Gay marriage could have already been a reality if only its proponents would change strategy. The last line in this article sums it all up. Their penchant for compulsion via courts rather than persuasion via campaigning and winning elections is hurting their cause.
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In the gay political think tanks that I have been involved in at various levels, the overall take as been that winning on every front is desirous. In the courts, via media, in interpersonal relationships (ie coming out, being out, creating great levels of comfort), and in acting as if marriage and child rearing were already civil institutions/roles available in order to create normalcy (the laws will follow).
The movement is not at all substituting efforts in courts for winning popular opinion. It is working on both and other fronts.
After all, courts are institutions that exist in civil societies and their use is what makes us a progress, reflective, civil society. Why fault the glbt movement for relentlessly pursuing the legal civil channels that our democracy affords us? It is the most honorable approach of a multi-pronged movement.
It is the perception, correct or not, that the glbt movement relies on the heavy hand of the court to obtain the desired changes. I know that you shy away from analogies, but in winning an argument, war, debate, or the like, using every means available is not necessarily desirable. In the war scenario, chem weapons may win the war, but their use is simply unacceptable. Persuasion always wins loving acceptance, but the blunt force of the courts only wins resentment.
You are right about the perception of using courts as a blunt instrument. That is the perception on the right. I have heard that expressed often.
However, I think that the progress made thus far (I view it as progress although I know that you probably do not.) is mostly attributable to societal changes that have been brought about by constant and favorable exposure to glbt folks.
As well, intellectualizing the arguments has been a great boon to the glbt movement. Recent generations relied on the 'yuck factor' (as Newsweek penned it) and religious strictures to justify their denunciations of same-sex attraction, but those were feeble and doomed arguments.
Most conservatives admit that it is a matter of time before gay marriage is legal everywhere in our country. They fight against it because of principle but they seem to believe that it is inevitable.
I would like to put it behind us and get on with more important discussions.
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