It's Not Called the Hate Amendment for Nothing

Wow. At first glance, that's all I can say about the comments from Pastor Hayes Wicker of Naples, Florida. Here's what he said at an anti-gay event last week:

This is a tremendous social crisis, greater even than the issue of slavery.

Wow.

For those who don't know, fundamentalist right-wingers in Florida are attempting to pass a constitutional amendment in Florida this year that would ban gay marriage in the Sunshine State. The same gay marriage that is already illegal under four separate parts of state law. And this amendment wouldn't just ban gay marriage, it would also prevent civil unions, cities and corporations from offering benefits to gay couples and anyone from giving benefits to unmarried straight couples. But let's leave aside the practical implications of the proposed gay marriage ban in question, I've talked about that in the past and I'll come back to it over and over again throughout the year, let's look at the hate ingrained in this particular phrase.

This is a tremendous social crisis, greater even than the issue of slavery.

Keep in mind, this isn't about banning gay marriage. Gay marriage is already banned in Florida under four different laws. What this nutjob is actually saying is that the fact that they haven't yet enshrined hatred in the Florida Constitution, despite not one single legal gay marriage ever taking place in Florida, is not only a "tremendous social crisis," but one greater than slavery. That shows an astounding amount of hatred not only for gay people, but for African Americans as well.

Let's take a quick look at the history of slavery and its outgrowths in American history:

• Slavery caused approximately 30 million people to be ripped out of their homes, families and lives
  
• Slavery included the horrible conditions of the Middle Passage, where the cramped, diseased and abusive conditions led to the deaths of as many as 15 million people
  
• Slavery in America was hundreds of years of the near total subjugation of an entire class of people
  
• Slavery involved the beating, flogging, raping, and murder of millions of people
  
• Slavery tore apart families, kept people illiterate, and kept most in abject poverty
  
• Slavery nearly destroyed the United States
  
• Slavery led to the death of one of America's greatest presidents
  
• Slavery transformed into sharecropping, tenant farming and the prison-lease system, which combined to keep most African Americans in virtual slavery through the beginning of the twentieth century
  
• Slavery laid the groundwork for Jim Crow, lynching, a corrupt justice system, assassination and the long-term economic deprivation of African Americans long past the end of slavery
  

Now, for comparison's sake, let's take a quick look at the history of no gay marriages in Florida and the fact that the ban on gay marriage isn't in the Florida constitution:

• Gay marriage ripped no one out of their home, family or life
  
• Gay marriage included no Middle Passage
  
• Gay marriage killed no one
  
• Gay marriage led to the subjugation of no one
  
• Gay marriage involved no beatings, floggings, rapes or murder
  
• Gay marriage tore apart no families, kept no one illiterate and led to no poverty
  
• Gay marriage has had no negative effect on the United States
  
• Gay marriage killed no presidents
  
• Gay marriage transformed into no forced subjugation or de facto slavery
  
• Gay marriage did not lay the groundwork for segregation, lynching, corruption, assassination or economic deprivation
  

One of these things is not like the other.

And just in case you weren't convinced by that quote that this was all about hate, the article goes further:

Without such an amendment or a law, Wicker said, it could lead to legal marriages in Florida between “man and dog” and “father and child.”

Wow.

This isn't just about hatred, it's about stupidity. How is it possible for someone to be so wrong and so misguided about so much? In the annals of critical thinking there is a logical fallacy known as the slippery slope. Simply put the argument that one step in a particular direction guarantees that we will continue down that path towards worse outcomes. In the real world, it's hardly ever true. In this case, it's incredibly untrue. First off, without this amendment, gay marriage is still illegal in Florida. And even if gay marriage were legal, the fact that two consenting adult humans who are unrelated could marry would in no way legally require bestiality or incest being made legal. It's the height of silliness to think otherwise. Those things would still be illegal under other laws, including federal constitutional law. Beyond that, the people who support the legality of gay marriage don't support the legality of bestiality or incest. In fact, they all oppose it. Just like everyone else. And if gay marriage were made legal, it wouldn't change anyone's opinion on these other issues. How do we know? Because gay marriage is legal in several places. Bestiality and incest aren't. And there are no negative consequences for anyone out of that legalization. Not one. These arguments are ludicrous and the people that say things like:

This is a tremendous social crisis, greater even than the issue of slavery.

Or

Without such an amendment or a law, Wicker said, it could lead to legal marriages in Florida between “man and dog” and “father and child.”

are not only ignorant, they are morally bankrupt and about as un-American as a person could possibly be. Hatred of other citizens based on their innate characteristics, particularly when those characteristics harm no one, is as close to evil as one can get without raping, molesting or killing someone.

Florida Seeks To Enshrine Discrimination in the Constitution

On today's radio show, I talked about the upcoming Amendment 2 that we will vote on in November. I've taken to calling this the Hate Amendment. You should, too. Why? Because this so-called gay marriage ban would not only ban gay marriage, which is already illegal in Florida, it would prevent cities and companies from providing benefits of any sort to gay couples and would also affect many straight couples and just plain roommates in a very negative way. I went through the list of arguments against the Amendment and you can feel free to pick and choose amongst the various arguments based on your location and audience. Here they are:

1. It's morally wrong to ban gay marriage. We are talking about taxpaying American citizens and such a ban would deny them a basic human right available to all other citizens.
2. It is unconstitutional under the federal Constitution. You can't deny any citizen a right without due process and without a legitimate reason. Neither of those is present here.
3. It would enshrine hate in the Constitution, something that we really shouldn't be doing. Putting such hatred in our highest document means that such hatred is legitimized.
4. This would be the first time that we used the Florida Constitution to take away rights, something that is at odds with basic constitutional principles. Constitutions exist to protect rights, not remove them.
5. At the federal level, we only tried to take away rights via the Constitution one time -- prohibition -- and it was an unmitigated disaster, leading to the Great Depression and the rise of organized crime in America. Is that the type of history we want to repeat?
6. It's unnecessary. Gay marriage is already illegal in Florida.
7. This law teaches hate to children. By legalizing hate in the Constitution, we tell children that such hate is acceptable. We should never teach hate to children. The government, in particular, should never teach hate to anyone.
8. The Republican slogan is "Less Taxes, Less Government, More Freedom." This Amendment proves that is a lie. This Amendment clearly means less freedom. Less freedom for individuals to choose who they love. Less freedom for cities to give benefits to who they choose to. Less freedom for corporations to provide benefits to their employees as they see fit. A dirty little secret here is that conservatives actually hate freedom. They love it for themselves, but they hate it for the rest of us. This Amendment proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
9. Gay marriage has never hurt anyone. Gay adoption has never hurt anyone. No gay right has ever caused any harm to anyone.
10. This Amendment, however, does hurt gay people. Particularly in those cities and working for those companies that do provide benefits. It hurts straight people who fall under its Draconian language. It hurts children who are taught to hate. It hurts us all because we become less civilized.
11. This Amendment would limit various rights that people currently have or might have, such as hospital visitation rights, the right to make decisions for your ill spouse, inheritance rights when there is no will, parental rights and more than a thousand other rights that marriage confers by law.
12. This Amendment would provide cover for Domestic abusers who live in situations where they aren't married. Don't believe me? A judge ruled exactly this in another state where a law with this same language passed.
13. By increasing the legitimacy of discrimination and hatred, this will encourage more hatred, discrimination and violence against gay people.
14. The role of the government is to protect citizens, not hurt them.
15. If you are a Christian, this directly violates the teachings of Christ. In addition to the substitution of earthly judgment for God's judgment it violates the admonition to "judge not, lest ye be judged." Beyond that, Christ never said a single word about gay people, but said thousands of words about helping those in poverty. Christians who obsess about gay people and ignore poverty are not only hypocrites, they are in direct violation of the teachings of Christ. And to those who say that the Old Testament has admonitions against homosexuality, maybe it does, but it also has many other admonitions, almost none of which modern people follow. For instance, one part of Leviticus specifically says that a woman on her period should be kept in a shed outside of the home while she has her period and that she shouldn't be touched. If you don't follow that rule (and many others), choosing to adhere to a strict literal interpretation of the passages on homosexuality are not you living by biblical principles, that's just you being a bigot.

Throughout the year, we'll come back to this issue often as we have a real chance to beat this Amendment and we have a moral obligation to do so.