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Friday, October 26, 2012

In response

I try to remain as apathetic as possible to much of the political agendas thrown around via Facebook statuses. This time, though, I cannot just sit here: I must respond to a certain quote being replicated on dozens of status on my news feed.

Here is the original quote, followed by my response.  The response uses a lot of the same language as the original.  I do not mean to infringe another person's intellectual property. Instead I wish to mirror what is being said to people who are passionate about civil rights, but have forgotten about the most infringed upon right of all.  



"I wish my moderate Republican friends would simply be honest. They all say they’re voting for Romney because of his economic policies (tenuous and ill-formed as they are), and that they disagree with him on gay rights. Fine. Then look me in the eye, speak with a level clear voice, and say, “My taxes and take-home pay mean more than your fundamental civil rights, the sanctity of your marriage, your right to visit an ailing spouse in the hospital, your dignity as a citizen of this country, your healthcare, your right to inherit, the mental welfare and emotional well-being of your youth, and your very personhood. It’s like voting for George Wallace during the Civil Rights movements, and apologizing for his racism. You’re still complicit. You’re still perpetuating anti-gay legislation and cultural homophobia. You don’t get to walk away clean, because you say you "disagree' with your candidate on these issues." - Pulitzer and Tony winning playwright, Doug Wright.


I wish my moderate Democrat friends would simply be honest.  They’re voting for Obama for a number of reasons, perhaps one being gay rights.  Fine. Then look me in the eye, speak with a clear voice, and say, “My beliefs of what is a fundamental civil right outweighs your belief of who is entitled to these rights and it is okay to take away any and all rights from those who have no voices at all.  It is okay to kill people, your own children, as long as they have not yet had their umbilical cord cut away from their mother.  The rights of the presently speaking are more important than those who have not yet had the chance to form or voice their own opinions, dignity does not matter for those less than 9 months old, and the very personhood of the unborn can be ignored.  Healthcare should, in fact, cover murder.”  You’re still complicit. You’re still perpetuating eugenics and a lack of respect for life. You don’t get to walk away clean because you say that you “disagree” with your candidate on these issues.

If we are going to focus on issues to vote upon, and if that issue happens to be civil rights, it can absolutely NOT be ignored that the biggest civil rights issue is killing children before they even have the chance to form their own opinion.  Why is one person's civil right more important than anothers?

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