Election Reaction, Part Three

The last of my reactions to the events of November Fourth will involve California's Proposition Eight, a ballot initiative that served to restrict the definition of marriage in the Golden State to a "union between a man and a woman," as the parlance goes.

I cannot tell you just how disappointed I am with the Californian electorate. Amending a state constitution to actually restrict in perpetuity the rights of a minority group is a step that I would expect more of our backward neighbors, such as Wisconsin and the Dakotas, than of a supposedly cosmopolitan place such as California. (Though, truth be told, I find such an amendment to be distressing no matter where it might exist; state constitutions are far better-used limiting the powers of government than the rights of individuals.)

Ultimately, of course, this issue comes down to the desire of the Christian majority in our nation to force their ideas of propriety upon us all (and to whine mightily about "oppression" if they can, on the rare occasion, not so compel us). There is no recognition of the difference between, nor proper separation of, church and state -- for, in their estimation, church and state should be separate only when it is someone else's church that is in question, not theirs.

Never mind that the civil institution of marriage is something that is entirely discrete from similar ceremonies undertaken at houses of worship. Never mind that churches would not be required to perform, nor recognize, gay unions. No, because of the codification of primitive, ancient fears and prejudices, they feel that it is their holy right, their duty not merely to run their churches as they see fit, but to coerce all of society in the same direction. To tell us that our gay and lesbian neighbors, friends, and family members are something less than full citizens of our nation, that they are not really "people" in the same sense that we straight folk are, that it is in some twisted sense moral to treat them differently under the law.

Just in the same perverted way that persons who were Native American or African American were once treated as something less than fully human.

I take solace in the fact that, seemingly, there is a generational shift in attitudes under way -- Americans who are younger than I are far less likely to oppose gay civil rights than those who are older. Time, it would seem, is on the side of those of us who believe in equality.

Still, it gnaws at me. For, as Doctor King observed, an "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." While justice for gays and lesbians may be only a matter of time, it can not come soon enough.

Election Reaction, Part Two

Okay, so, in an election-night conversation with my big sister, I was asked just what it was about Sarah Palin that torqued me off so badly. And my answer? That Palin, despite absolutely no knowledge of climatology, believes she understands the ideas behind global climate change better than do actual climatologists. That she sees the Bible not as a religious document, but rather as a biology text.

Does this make me a snob? Hell, yes, and proudly so.

I've previously commented upon the connection between big money interests and certain politicians' convenient "skepticism" concerning global climate change. As to the other subject:

Darwin's theory of natural selection (and, contrary to popular belief, he was not the man who came up with the idea of evolution; it was an observed reality long before he came upon the scene) is one of the world's great scientific ideas, at the very least on par with relativity, quantum mechanics and plate tectonics. It is the overarching theme that unites all of biological study. To deny it is as utterly ridiculous as to deny the existence of gravity or nuclear fusion, or to postulate that 1+1=29.

It was telling that, during the campaign, Palin decried the expenditure of public monies upon biological research involving, in her own words, "fruit flies, I kid you not, in Paris, France." The problem with said opposition? That academic work upon the Drosophila (remember that from high school biology, Governor?) genome has yielded major breakthroughs in autism research, for which Palin professes great support.

Were she paying attention, Sarah Palin might actually know that there has been extraordinary progress in the past decade in the fields of genetics and biochemistry, especially as they relate to evolutionary biology. That the deep connection between animals as different as fruit flies and humans is now more firmly elucidated than ever. That all living things are interrelated in ways more exquisitely beautiful than previously understood.

Instead, Governor Palin chooses ignorance, superstition and insularity.

That any candidate for public office might proudly (and successfully, in political terms) proclaim his or her illiteracy concerning an extraordinarily elegant scientific concept is a sad commentary upon a certain segment of the electorate.

You know who you are.

Election Reaction, Part One

Yes, I know, it's been a while since I've posted. In part, that is because I've been trying to soak it all in, to figure out just what has happened over the last two weeks. Here goes:

On election night, I held it together until I got back to my hotel room in Eau Claire; then, Barack Obama came onstage and delivered his first address as President-elect. I began weeping like a child.

Why did I cry? After all, I've previously seen plenty of other candidates -- ones I've fully supported -- successfully elected, yet never shed a single tear.

Certainly, there was the historic nature of the moment; after some of the horrible shit I've witnessed in my lifetime, I never dreamed that I would see an America in which a black man could be elected President. But, more than anything, it was the content of the speech: Barack Obama said, in a few minutes, so many of the things that I've been desperately hoping to hear from our President for the past 94 months. He plainly stated that our national difficulties are a collective matter, and that they would be overcome only through collective effort and sacrifice. He sought to unite Americans in common cause, not to divide us by race, by religiosity, by ideology. Barack Obama actually asked something of us, and, in so doing, treated us as though we are full and equal citizens of a free nation -- not merely consumers in service of an all-important economic machinery.

President-elect Obama has not yet assumed office. There are many problems that he, and we, face over the next four years. But by treating his fellow citizens like the adults they are (or should be) -- by appealing to the better angels of our natures -- he has already made a good start.

My Challenge To You

It's been a hard-fought election season, and tomorrow, November Fourth, it all comes to fruition. Obviously, if you read this blog at all, you know exactly whom I would prefer to win the Presidential race.

But, while it is easy to get caught up in partisanship, the basic truth is that we have far greater commonalities than we do differences, that there is much more that unites us than divides us. For we are all Americans.

I cannot pretend to have a crystal ball; I do not know who will win this election. But, no matter who wins, we face numerous challenges, both near- and long-term, as a nation. And we will have to face them together.

If Senator John McCain is elected tomorrow, if that is the will of the People, then he will be my President just as much he is the President of our nation's most stalwart Republican. And he will deserve the same loyalty that I would give a President Barack Obama, the same opportunity to make his case.

That is not to say that I will never disagree with the new President's actions, no matter whom is elected. But it will not be the result of "McCain Derangement Syndrome," nor "Obama Derangement Syndrome." It will be because I have a legitimate disagreement with his positions or policies -- just as it has been with the current Administration.

And I would expect nothing less of my fellow citizens. That is my challenge to you all.

Now get out and vote your conscience!