You know, all the debates that go on about this and that, whether it is who is responsible for non working plug ins for Blogs, to whether Proposition 8 in California is not about being a Bigot, but about Religious Rights, there is something that struck me.

While engaging in the debates on Proposition 8, it is like watching people actually foaming at the mouth, as they fire their broadsides at the Gay Rights movement, at how they claim we are Infringing on their Religious Freedom. Yet they fail to understand, that they enjoy that freedom, because the majority are willing to accept that not everyone believes as they do.

Then engaging in a debate about Wordpress, it struck me. The same anger from the few who feel a sense of self entitlement, of being almost God’s Messengers, and whether or not an end user has the right to complain, or scold, the company that developed Wordpress, for basically actions of 3rd party developers. It is the same anger that the Religious Right use, the same holier than thou mantra, that somehow makes them believe they are superior to everyone else, thus entitled to having only their views heard, their opinions matter.

What got me was, how I wondered how ballistic the antagonists would get, if they knew they were talking to a gay, married man. It got to me too, that I wasn’t about to share that information, not because it was unimportant to the discussion, but from the desire to not be attacked. Yet here I am, Out and Proud, but the attack philosophy obviously works, no wonder Bush & Harper are in power.

It also struck me as how somehow, that was of importance. Not to me, but to them, that if I ‘came out’ as the saying goes, it would somehow invalidate my arguments of why Wordpress has an obligation to its end users, whether the program is free or not.

And perhaps that is why I am so passionate about calling it Marriage. Not because I care what the word used is, but because in order to gain acceptance, to be validated, it has to be the same word, for that simple tradition, whether religious connotations only, or a civil. It has to be Marriage, if bigotry, if racism, is to end.

Words do matter, semantics does count, and it struck me at how the self righteous seem to forget, that but for the Grace of God, there go they too. I am who I am, not because I chose to be Gay, but because a higher power made that determination for me. Call it random gene association, if you want, but it wasn’t a choice made by me, nor any other homosexual, lesbian, or transgender.

Then

Being Jewish, I am certainly not well versed in all the nuances between the various sects of Christianity. I know there are Baptists, Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, and others, similar to Judaism, which has reform, conservative, orthodox, humanist. Yet in our religion, a person’s sexuality isn’t a big deal. In fact the largest group, the Conservatives, have allowed Gays to become Rabbi’s and encourage the use of the Synagogue for Same Sex Marriages, for a bit now.

I was married by a Rabbi actually.

Yet the head of the Anglican Church has pleaded for a ban, on electing Bishops that are openly Gay. Course the Pope himself is on a crusade to eradicate these horrible homosexuals from the Priesthood, which makes me wonder at times, about Religion.

In his final speech at the Lambeth Conference, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the Anglican Communion needs “space for study and free discussion without pressure” about whether to accept changes in the traditional biblical understanding of same-sex relationships. (source - USA Today)

Now I wonder, does it really matter what the church allows or doesn’t? I mean I know that being married by a Rabbi was nice, but it wasn’t that which made the difference to me. It was the piece of paper, that marriage license I got that says My Government recognizes my union. It is that which I think matters a bit more than whether my Religion does, because religion is something very personal.

There is an old saying, put two Jews into a room and get three different opinions. Religion is like that for most, it is personal, and I don’t think the Vatican, Mecca, Canterbury, or Jerusalem can alter how I FEEL. Whether they accept us or not, I don’t think it is really an issue. The issue for me is, and always has been, to end the bullying, the prejudices, the racism.

To that end, I think I’d much rather have acceptance, have the same civil rights that others have. What goes on in Church, Synagogue, well its really not going to change my belief in GOD, or how I perceive HIM to be.