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Liberty and Justice for the Privileged
Mar. 5th, 2008 07:08 amSenator Obama,
The following is a comment from your blog concerning the issue of marriage equality. Please read it with a truly open and understanding mind:
"The United States has a powerful idea, that has served us well, called separating Church and State. We developed it for exactly this kind of deep disagreement about what is or is not a sin.
Separation of Church and State does not mean we give up our religious beliefs. It means we choose not to impose our religious beliefs on others.
I am Jewish; I don't eat pork. But I don't try to make pork illegal, because I don't believe you need to share my understanding of the Bible for us to share this country together.
It would be disrespectful for me to try to impose my religion and its laws on you. We live together under American law, not under Jewish law or Christian law.
You (and others) can personally oppose homosexuality but still support gay marriage. Gay marriage does not mean marriage *in your church*. It means marriage *at the courthouse*. What happens in your church is between you and G-d. What happens at the courthouse is between you and me.
Countries where people impose their religious beliefs on others have religious wars. They have religious police, who force people to pray. They kill people who disagree with them about G-d.
That's not America.
The courthouse is a place where all citizens should have the same rights and responsibilities -- Jewish, Christian, Muslim, gay, straight, Evangelical, Catholic, and more.
If I meet someone at his church, I may be a sinner. But if I meet that same person at the courthouse, we are both citizens of a great country. And as a fellow *citizen*, I expect every Christian in America to support my right to marry.
Democracy is about equality for everyone, not just the people you agree with. Sometimes, you may even find yourself standing up for the rights of sinners."
Too much sectarian religious expression has tainted this campaign...the kind which has sought and continues to seek denying me and my husband full civil rights as citizens. We need a leader who cannot be swayed by those who would impose their religious views by enacting laws which accommodate only their views.
All that said, we are likely to vote with our feet and emigrate by the time the next administration term has ended...because, just like Rosa Parks, we refuse to sit at the back of the bus.
Thank you, Senator Obama, for your time and consideration.
The following is a comment from your blog concerning the issue of marriage equality. Please read it with a truly open and understanding mind:
"The United States has a powerful idea, that has served us well, called separating Church and State. We developed it for exactly this kind of deep disagreement about what is or is not a sin.
Separation of Church and State does not mean we give up our religious beliefs. It means we choose not to impose our religious beliefs on others.
I am Jewish; I don't eat pork. But I don't try to make pork illegal, because I don't believe you need to share my understanding of the Bible for us to share this country together.
It would be disrespectful for me to try to impose my religion and its laws on you. We live together under American law, not under Jewish law or Christian law.
You (and others) can personally oppose homosexuality but still support gay marriage. Gay marriage does not mean marriage *in your church*. It means marriage *at the courthouse*. What happens in your church is between you and G-d. What happens at the courthouse is between you and me.
Countries where people impose their religious beliefs on others have religious wars. They have religious police, who force people to pray. They kill people who disagree with them about G-d.
That's not America.
The courthouse is a place where all citizens should have the same rights and responsibilities -- Jewish, Christian, Muslim, gay, straight, Evangelical, Catholic, and more.
If I meet someone at his church, I may be a sinner. But if I meet that same person at the courthouse, we are both citizens of a great country. And as a fellow *citizen*, I expect every Christian in America to support my right to marry.
Democracy is about equality for everyone, not just the people you agree with. Sometimes, you may even find yourself standing up for the rights of sinners."
Too much sectarian religious expression has tainted this campaign...the kind which has sought and continues to seek denying me and my husband full civil rights as citizens. We need a leader who cannot be swayed by those who would impose their religious views by enacting laws which accommodate only their views.
All that said, we are likely to vote with our feet and emigrate by the time the next administration term has ended...because, just like Rosa Parks, we refuse to sit at the back of the bus.
Thank you, Senator Obama, for your time and consideration.
