Why It is Prop H8

California's Proposition 8, or as it has come to be known to many of us "Prop H8," has finally pushed many of us in the gay community over the edge. It is one thing to have people oppose your rights; quite another to have people go to the polls and vote to strip away rights you worked hard to obtain. I admit I am anything but objective on this issue, but objectivity is not called for in this case. A group of people coming from a narrow religious perspective have invested millions of dollars to strip people in my community of their rights to be a family. Never mind they engaged in dishonest scare tactics in their ad campaign, many of which I saw online. I want to deconstruct here their arguments for doing so. I do so as a spiritual service to them. They are locked into destructive bigotry in the name of their religion. They believe in their hearts they have not only done no wrong, but are positively virtuous in their actions.

Let's start with their primary argument "defending marriage." Their hypocrisy is easily laid bare in that they seem to have no problems with divorce. There is nothing more threatening to marriage than divorce. Why not a multimillion dollar campaign to outlaw divorce? Wouldn't that do more to protect marriage? What about telling all of those divorced religious zealots they are not welcome. Of course, it would decimate their ranks and make hypocrites of 50% of Prop H8's supporters, since that is the divorce rate, even among evangelical Christians.

Next, many of them say they do not "hate" gay people. If by hate they mean they don't want to see terrible things happen to us, they are probably being honest, at least to some degree. What this masks to themselves is how horrified they are by gays and by the idea that society should treat gay people as their equals. No they don't hate us in their own sense, they simply view us as their inferiors based upon nothing more than a prejudicial view of our god-given sexuality. It has nothing at all to do with the quality of our lives, what we contribute to community, the society or our own families. The very definition of bigotry is to demean others over characteristics they did not choose, such as skin color, ethnic birth group or sexual orientation. In their view we are inherently inferior and, as the Catholic Church decreed in so many words, "evil." The view that our relationships and families should be viewed as the equal of theirs is repulsive to them. They "hate" in this sense: We must never be considered anything but inferior to them.

This comes across in statements from African Americans who say, "We understand hatred and discrimination. We don't discriminate against anyone. This is a moral issue." That very statement says they do in fact discriminate in the literal sense of that word of dividing based upon certain characteristics. They divide the world into married heterosexuals who are moral and married homosexuals who are immoral. To be immoral by their lights is by definition inherently inferior. They are appalled that anyone would consider their marriages no better than ours or conversely ours as good as theirs. They certainly do intend to discriminate -- and have invested money, time, energy and effort into being sure our families are not counted as the equal of theirs because they believe we are each, individually inferior. When we say "hate" and "homophobic" and "bigoted" we mean precisely their worldview that we and our families are inferior to them and their families.

Finally, they say to us, "You already have civil unions." (This, of course, is only if you happen to live in California, and of course most of us gay people in the nation don't even have that and the religious zealots across the nation oppose giving us even that because they fear we might be too equal.) Their view of our inferiority is finally cemented in this argument. "We'll be nice enough to let you have something like marriage, as long as it isn't what we have and what society most recognizes and values." We cannot have that because in their view we are not worthy of it. We are inferior. If this was not their thinking, it would be a non-issue.

The sad part of this is that no one is blinded by their rhetoric more than themselves. They may like us as individuals -- "some of my best friends are gay," they will say with all sincerity, and "I know a great many fine gay people" and in saying this they mean it. What they cannot accept is that we are their moral equals. Again, this is based upon our same-sex attractions, not any way in which we live our lives or what we contribute to society. Thus, in their eyes we are 2nd class citizens unworthy of society's acceptance. Our sexuality trumps everything and cannot be overcome no matter what "nice" people we are. Then they are truly puzzled when we are angry and wonder why we can't "just get over it." How can you get over being labeled inferior when you know you are not?

The reasons for this viewpoint are beyond the scope of this essay, but they are intimately connected to their religion--a viewpoint they wish to impose upon every American citizen. In fact, they view anyone of any other religions as inherently unequal and inferior to them, even their own religious allies.

I take the viewpoint that we must pray for them although the thought of doing so twists my gut. My anger is easily stated, my spirituality more a struggle in this case. Still, I pray they may be delivered from their own inner blindness. I invite you to join me.

Who is JimCracky?

I am a study in contradictions. While I was raised in a poverty level Appalachian family in a leaning, old farm house, today I make good money and live in a luxury area of the country--lots of spas which I seldom visit. I have not forgotten my roots but I have learned to stretch my wings. I am a secluded extrovert, a home body who travels incessantly for my work, a gay man trained in spirituality, a conservative by nature forced to be liberal by a fierce sense of fairness and spirituality. I am a practical mystic. I like God and dislike organized religion including atheism, but I know churches and atheism have saved some people's lives and mental health. I am a disciplined mess. I love humanity, but some people really tick me off. I love fiercely, hate ferociously and regret how little I show the first and how easily I show the second. If you're not comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty, you won't like how I think. If you're still reading, welcome to my world.