T is for Tiger

Today: Not the only person here.

A long while back, way before we even knew how close this election was going to be, I was speaking with my stepfather about who he was planning to vote for. I said, among other things, that I didn’t want to be a second-class citizen forever and so I would not be voting for George Bush.

“Well, you’re not the only person in the country, Matthew”

Well neither are you. Was my initial thought, though I came back with something that I don’t even remember, probably about the fact that I pay full taxes and deserve the same rights as everyone else—something constitutional, probably. For him, the discussion was over: my rights aren’t the only thing that’s important in this election. Fine. We all know how the country feels about that: 11 more states have bans on same sex marriage. You win, Ed.

I was reminded of that conversation recently when I was watching CNN and a Conservative Black Minister came on one of the news analysis shows to speak about conservative religious Americans. I wouldn’t make mention of his color except that he did, in a way that I found both profoundly offensive and profoundly telling. He said at one point that the biggest issue for him and his constituents was making sure there was a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. Okay, I thought, where’s this going? And then he said (to paraphrase, though I’m not making up the meaning):

I’m black, okay, so I know about discrimination, and Christians are the only people being discriminated against right now in this country.

He very quickly shifted focus to some other topic, fully aware of how off-color (purposeful offensive pun) and revealing that remark was. Shortly after, the segment was over and the mediator of the show said ‘And, reverend, it’s always interesting to have you here.’

Ow, I thought. Are we not people? Because he said ‘the only people.’ It’s too bad, because among these non-persons are a lot of Americans: Muslims, Women, Asians, Hispanics, Homosexuals, Jews, and people with disabilities to name a few—oops, I should call them simply ‘the disabled’ not people with disabilities, because as we’ve all ready established, if you’re not Christian, you’re not person enough for discriminations against you to count.

Does this guy forget that blacks are still discriminated against all over this country?

I mean, really. The guy was a total nut-bag and generally not worth commenting on—other than how his remark shows some of the sentiment I take issue with in conservative, Christian platforms.

These people seem to think that they should have the right to exert their religious beliefs over other people, regardless of what those other people feel about it. They want to have control over these people because they somehow ‘know better’ then those that their policies, if legislated would ultimately affect. They think that because they’re not given this opportunity, they’re somehow being discriminated against and that other people who disagree with them somehow have a conspiratorial agenda that includes, among other things, the destruction of families, the aborting of all fetuses, and the insertion of homosexual relationships as a unilaterally sanctioned religious unit.

Don’t these people see how dangerous it is to legislate morality and church doctrine? Don’t they see how ridiculous it is to assume you know what’s best for the country and what’s best is bigotry? No, they don’t, and that’s because they believe that God is on their side.

News Flash: every ‘crazy Islamic fundamentalist’ uses the exact same argument. The religious extremists that we’re always trying to subdue in the middle east are using the same rhetoric as the ‘deeply concerned Christians’ who blow up abortion clinics and murder homosexuals.

I know that this is a really angry blog, but I’m sick of putting a sock in it every time someone says something that’s essentially read as: fuck you faggot.

So, I’m not the only person in this country.

That’s fine.

But I'm still a person, God damnit.