I observed two things while traveling the country by road last week. First, riding with the windows down while jamming Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird” still rocks. Second, last week’s radio waves were dominated by right-wing hate peddling yakkies drumming up anger over President Barack Obama’s assertion that he supported gay marriage.
The president is right to support equal rights for all Americans. It baffles me that states are voting on (not) recognizing gay marriages. They are really voting on whether a group of Americans deserve the same rights as the majority shares, which of course they do.
But there is no need to engage in thoughtful dialogue on right-wing radio. The hate peddlers framed it as a direct attack on their religion and thus the war is on. The callers viewed themselves as Christian soldiers who must stop Obama at all costs.
Funny thing is, even though I attended a Catholic school from a very conservative area growing up, I never remember priest or nuns or any adults railing over the subject. I remember them teaching to love my neighbor and help the less fortunate.
Did I learn a different form of Christianity?
I simply don’t understand why someone in Podunk, Missouri or Georgia cares so much about two women holding hands somewhere in Oregon. Live and let live, anyone?
I wanted to ask the yak masters’ callers, “Where is all this energy and motivation when it comes to addressing human suffering such as sickness and illiteracy?”
All Americans deserve the same rights and the president deserves some recognition. This is one of the few times a Democrat has actually stood up for Democratic values—equality.
