The Passover Election

[blue_jay]

In celebrating Passover, there's a tradition of mixing sweet charoset and bitter horseradish to commemorate the sweetness of freedom combined with the bitterness of either slavery or the plagues that hurt innocent Egyptians in the process of escaping from Egypt. Last week, we had the incredible sweetness of Barack Obama's election and the awful

Comments

[greeneyedpagan]

Interesting comparison, I think. Thanks.
I think learning to be grateful for what we have achieved, and knowing that we must always strive for more, is one of the roads to happiness. If we were perfectly satisfied, where would the impetus be for betterment?

(I know what you mean, though, and I agree completely. Sometimes platitudes spout out of my mouth unbidden. Forgive me? LOL)

[rosebriar]

I think it's somewhat uplifting that Schwarzenegger, of all people, has said that the court needs to take this on, because it's the same as forbidding interracial marriage. That kind of response is what's needed, and history has shown us that the harder opponents fight, the more advocates fight back.

I'm terribly disappointed too, but I think that yes, we should take heart in Obama's election, despite our setbacks. I think what it tells us is that we're on the right road. What California tells us is, we're not there yet.

So I guess my answer is, maybe it's enough for today - enough to keep us going. We got out of Egypt, anyway. Tomorrow, let's work on that sea problem.

[crookshanks]

I comfort myself with the thought that it will happen someday, because I just don't see how it could not happen.

Every once in a while I look at the statistics from just a few years ago and realize how far we actually have moved. Either people are changing their minds or conservative bigots are dying off.

Either way: one of these days.

[rowan_elizabeth]

I was riveted by Obama's reference to his own peers as "The Joshua Generation." He can lead us out of Egypt, but he will not be the one to lead us to the promised land. Our generation will be the ones who will point out the absurdity of taking away rights, who will let intolerant values die off with an intolerant generation, and who can choose not to teach them to our children. We will be the energy that moves the culture en masse, there have already been tons of studies showing that even young conservatives are far more tolerant than their parents are. And look at the young evangelicals that supported Obama?

It was said that this presidential election would either empower or disenfranchise our generation for 40 years to come. I find the passover reference extremely fitting!

[tgrauzer]

Then let me respond with another song:
"You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find--you get what you need."

We need a man like Obama now. Gay marriage is an ongoing fight, far from being a closed issue. Lots of states have denied it in one way or another; California is just another one of the fifty, although of course it is an important symbol to the gay/lesbian community. It isn't the end of the world here. Even Gov. Schwarzenegger encourages the fight to continue.
And so it will. I'm certain that it will eventually become legal. But right now, yes--I believe that it is enough that we have someone who may be able to help the United States as a whole now. If the economic and social climate begins to turn around, if bipartisanship can be restored, then it becomes more likely that there will be better political support for the gay marriage issue to be reconsidered.