Gay Marriage and Free Speech

I'm sorry, I hate to get all political on a writing blog, but I just want to briefly summarize my anger when I read this article. Basically, the president of Chick-fil-A came out and was against gay marriage. Not surprising, I guess, considering the company is very conservative and sticks close to its Christian roots (I will not go into how ridiculous I think it is that "Christian" apparently equals in the minds of some, we love everyone except gay people).

What bothered me most was the people in the comments who were like, "He's allowed to have an opinion. Freedom of speech, blah blah." NO, KIDS. He is not allowed to have an opinion on this. Know why? Because this is not an issue of, there's no right answer so therefore we can all have opinions. There's definitely a right answer here. People are deeply, deeply confused about what it means to have the freedom of speech in America. It means you are allowed to speak as long as you don't infringe upon the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of others. You are not free, for example, to go shoot your neighbor in the face, because you are infringing upon another person's freedom (and life).

You saying that you do not want other people to get married is an infringement upon their rights. That is a civil rights issue, not an opinion issue. You are allowed to have opinions on how to balance the budget. You are not allowed to have opinions on who can get married. See the difference?

Nobody would spin interracial marriage as an opinion issue. If you went out and proclaimed that Asian people and white people should not be allowed to get married, it would be called DISCRIMINATION, not an opinion. You are not allowed to be pro-slavery either. That's also not an opinion.

So no, Chick-fil-A dude, you are not allowed to say that, and I don't consider it an opinion. Case closed.

Fifty years from now, people are going to look back at the gay marriage issue and wonder why it was ever acceptable for politicians and businessmen to stand before the American public and pontificate on why certain consenting, non-related adults were not allowed to get married.

Unlike some self-righteous people, I have actually read the Bible from cover to cover. I just want to point out that in the Bible, it says you're not allowed to eat lobster or shrimp. Another thing the Bible says is we should stone adulterers. Also, the Bible says you're not supposed to wear clothes of mixed fibers. As a Christian, I don't follow those rules. And I'm pretty sure God does not give a shit. I'm pretty sure God would give a shit if I told part of humanity they were lesser people than another part of humanity. God would probably give a shit if I treated someone poorly. Those are things I choose to believe God gives a shit about, because in general, I think God is a compassionate dude who loves people first and foremost. At least in my experience.

WHEW. Okay, back to regularly scheduled writing posts. I hate politics.