One step forward, two steps back.
I guess the only way for me to start talking about politics on this LJ is for the American elections to (FINALLY) end. :P
I cannot be happier for Obama's victory. It's historic that the United States elected an African American president. It still boggles my mind, and I keep forgetting that this actually happened. Just yesterday. I have been witness to a number of tragedies, and I could not be happier to have witnessed this amazing piece of history hundreds of years in the making. Finally, one giant step forward for America and hopefully the world.
But then, mere hours after this great triumph, we hear about these devastating losses:
I am devastated. I've been tearing up on and off all night - every time thoughts of these propositions and amendments cross my mind, my heart clenches and my head hurts and I just... I don't understand. For all our technological advances, our collective superiority complexes, our so-called "progress", how can we still live in a world full of this kind of ignorance, prejudice, and hate? It's not just America. This way of thinking is prevalent all over the world - we only have to look at this country, right here, to see.
If America can't change its stance about this, what hope does the Philippines have? I am 99.99% sure that I won't ever see amendments like these in this country in my lifetime. Not even in my future children's and grandchildren's lifetimes. It will be decades - maybe even centuries - before this country will ever even consider defining marriage in any way; before anybody will ever be vocal about the possibility of allowing same-sex marriage. A freaking Reproductive Health Bill can't even be passed without years of delays due to bureaucracy and the church's interference. Not without so many people slinging accusations, spreading false information, condemning those in favor of it.
We have not gone as far as we hope to, not as far as we tell ourselves we have. And, dare I say? We probably never will.
I don't know how to explain why I feel so strongly about this - strong enough that I post about it here in my normally drama-free LJ. I don't even know if any of you are still reading this. :P I mean, there certainly are more horrible things in the world, right? There are wars going on all over the place; people die everyday - leaving widows, widowers, fatherless and motherless children, countless devastated family members and friends; there is endless corruption and greed and selfishness; millions are sick, famished, suffering; the rich get richer and the poor get poorer; and probably the worst of all: there is a never-ending supply of apathy wherever you choose to look. Yes, there are thousands of terrible things in the world. They happen every day. But when things like these - propositions and amendments that people can actually, literally, definitely change by the simple matter of voting - still happen, my hope for the world is diminished to almost nothing. When millions of people decide to be ignorant. When millions of people decide to impose their views on everybody else. When millions of people decide to withhold rights to citizens. When millions of people decide to spread injustice and hate to their fellow men.
Yeah. That's why this hurts so much more. When Barack Obama was elected, it can be said that it was because people chose change above anything else. Why that didn't extend to these laws, I will never ever ever be able to understand.
Remember, Jesus would rather constantly shame gays than let orphans have a family. - Stephen Colbert
**
Okay, I'm off the soapbox now. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. :)
I WILL NOW LEAVE EARTH TO START TERRAFORMING MARS (BECAUSE I'M A BIOLOGIST, YOU SEE) SO I CAN LIVE THERE WITH MY FRIENDS AND I WILL NEVER BE THIS HEARTBROKEN EVER AGAIN. People with cold hearts and closed minds will not be allowed in my special planet. I have so far reserved spots for HK, Jman, and Michi - because they responded when I first suggested the idea on Plurk (speaking of which: go join Plurk please). Raise your hand if you want to join us! :)
On that happy note: Here, read this heartwarming article. ♥
Sigh. I will now watch Bones in an attempt to cheer myself up. If that doesn't work, I have a cam version of the sparkly and sunshine-y HSM3 to watch and rewind over and over (why yes, I still have the soundtrack on loop). If that doesn't work, there is the promise of a new (hopefully kickass) Smallville episode tomorrow. :D Forget the fact that it's the first day of class - I'm looking forward to my weekly downloads. Hee.
**
For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera
I cannot be happier for Obama's victory. It's historic that the United States elected an African American president. It still boggles my mind, and I keep forgetting that this actually happened. Just yesterday. I have been witness to a number of tragedies, and I could not be happier to have witnessed this amazing piece of history hundreds of years in the making. Finally, one giant step forward for America and hopefully the world.
But then, mere hours after this great triumph, we hear about these devastating losses:
- California Proposition 8: YES. What is Prop 8? It is an initiative constitutional amendment for the state that says only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized. It eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. (source)
- Arizona Proposition 102: YES. What is Prop 102? An amendment for the constitution of the state to define marriage as between one man and one woman. (source)
- Florida Marriage Amendment: YES. What does this state? This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized. (source)
- Arkansas Unmarried Couple Adoption Ban: YES. It says exactly what it means: It is a citizen-initiated state statute that would make it illegal for any individual cohabiting outside of a valid marriage to adopt or provide foster care to minors. (source)
I am devastated. I've been tearing up on and off all night - every time thoughts of these propositions and amendments cross my mind, my heart clenches and my head hurts and I just... I don't understand. For all our technological advances, our collective superiority complexes, our so-called "progress", how can we still live in a world full of this kind of ignorance, prejudice, and hate? It's not just America. This way of thinking is prevalent all over the world - we only have to look at this country, right here, to see.
If America can't change its stance about this, what hope does the Philippines have? I am 99.99% sure that I won't ever see amendments like these in this country in my lifetime. Not even in my future children's and grandchildren's lifetimes. It will be decades - maybe even centuries - before this country will ever even consider defining marriage in any way; before anybody will ever be vocal about the possibility of allowing same-sex marriage. A freaking Reproductive Health Bill can't even be passed without years of delays due to bureaucracy and the church's interference. Not without so many people slinging accusations, spreading false information, condemning those in favor of it.
We have not gone as far as we hope to, not as far as we tell ourselves we have. And, dare I say? We probably never will.
I don't know how to explain why I feel so strongly about this - strong enough that I post about it here in my normally drama-free LJ. I don't even know if any of you are still reading this. :P I mean, there certainly are more horrible things in the world, right? There are wars going on all over the place; people die everyday - leaving widows, widowers, fatherless and motherless children, countless devastated family members and friends; there is endless corruption and greed and selfishness; millions are sick, famished, suffering; the rich get richer and the poor get poorer; and probably the worst of all: there is a never-ending supply of apathy wherever you choose to look. Yes, there are thousands of terrible things in the world. They happen every day. But when things like these - propositions and amendments that people can actually, literally, definitely change by the simple matter of voting - still happen, my hope for the world is diminished to almost nothing. When millions of people decide to be ignorant. When millions of people decide to impose their views on everybody else. When millions of people decide to withhold rights to citizens. When millions of people decide to spread injustice and hate to their fellow men.
Yeah. That's why this hurts so much more. When Barack Obama was elected, it can be said that it was because people chose change above anything else. Why that didn't extend to these laws, I will never ever ever be able to understand.
Remember, Jesus would rather constantly shame gays than let orphans have a family. - Stephen Colbert
**
Okay, I'm off the soapbox now. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. :)
I WILL NOW LEAVE EARTH TO START TERRAFORMING MARS (BECAUSE I'M A BIOLOGIST, YOU SEE) SO I CAN LIVE THERE WITH MY FRIENDS AND I WILL NEVER BE THIS HEARTBROKEN EVER AGAIN. People with cold hearts and closed minds will not be allowed in my special planet. I have so far reserved spots for HK, Jman, and Michi - because they responded when I first suggested the idea on Plurk (speaking of which: go join Plurk please). Raise your hand if you want to join us! :)
On that happy note: Here, read this heartwarming article. ♥
Sigh. I will now watch Bones in an attempt to cheer myself up. If that doesn't work, I have a cam version of the sparkly and sunshine-y HSM3 to watch and rewind over and over (why yes, I still have the soundtrack on loop). If that doesn't work, there is the promise of a new (hopefully kickass) Smallville episode tomorrow. :D Forget the fact that it's the first day of class - I'm looking forward to my weekly downloads. Hee.
**
For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera