Election Ads

Every four years it comes screaming back to me why I hate election years: The ads.
I love back to back ads, one for and the next against the exact same proposition, or candidate. I am also extremely fond of seeing negative, hate engendering commercials for the same backwards propositions over and over again. Yelling at the T.V. does no good, in case you were wondering, but hadn't tried it.

My favorite this year is Proposition 8, the gay marriage proposition. Proponents contend it is "protecting" "traditional" marriage. Anything that includes buzz words like protect and traditional should automatically make your left eyebrow go up, and may be followed by an eye roll if your brain is working. Why, pray tell, does your marriage need "protecting"? Is your marriage really, in actual tangible ways, different today than it was yesterday because a gay couple got married yesterday? I ask for proof. Is your marriage somehow in danger? Now they are playing up the school angle, "It's going to be taught in our schools" OOOHHHH. Wow, do you honestly think it is going to be taught on a regular basis, continually like timetables? Or do you think maybe they might read a book for five minutes and that will be it? My favorite commercial shows a couple saying that it will happen in your schools, "in our school in Massachusetts they told our son boys could marry boys". SO WHAT! Do you think your child is now thinking he wants to marry Billy instead of Suzy, seriously? I am the mother of two heterosexual boys. They are only 9 an 12 and I have known for several years that they are raging heterosexuals, not that I would love my kids any less if they weren't (and some people would, don't fool yourselves!). I could bore you with examples to illustrate HOW I know, but trust me I know.

So let's digress for a moment, I assume all of you clearly remember the day you DECIDED to like the opposite sex. What, you, don't? Could you possibly be admitting that it isn't a DECISION people MAKE. Could it be that you always liked the opposite sex, since a very young age and never made a conscious choice, it was just ingrained in you? Therefore, what are you so terrified of your child learning in school? Is Johnny going to turn gay because he got this information in school? It doesn't work that way, get out of the dark ages, open your heart and your mind. Stop fearing what you don't know or understand and quit preaching hate to your children. We need to be teaching our children tolerance, not to treat people differently simple because they look, talk or behave differently from us. If you doubt this for one minute imagine that your religion, race, ethnicity is suddenly, inexplicably the "different" one, would you like to be singled out? Many are too comfortable in their masses of sameness and have never considered what it would be like to be on the outside, and you should. If you want to raise compassionate, responsible adults, you need to raise your children with the same sensitivities. How dare you purport to be a "Christian", but be teaching hate.

Proposition 8 is thinly disguised discrimination. There was this little thing called the Civil Rights Movement in the 60's, It used to be legal to discriminate against people based on color, now we realize that was pretty ridiculous. It is no more legal or right to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation.
Prop 8 isn't about our schools or kids being taught about gay marriage it is about preaching fear and hate and legalizing discrimination.