But that’s a public policy argument, and in a free country, when you do win public policy arguments by shouting down the opposition, you lose more than you win.

But, mostly, you don’t win them at all.

Which is as it should be.

Now, you want to push your belief — that SSM should be acknowledged by the state — on everybody else, and somebody who holds a differing view should have been barred from giving the invocation at the inauguration of a president . . .

. . . who, himself, opposes SSM.

Pretty damn intolerant of you.

And so, because you are in favor of SSM, Warren should not have been invited to give the invocation at the coron — the inauguration, because somebody who holds differing views from you should be discriminated against.

Got it.

Let me try and break this down. We all have some prejudices. There is nothing we can really do to change that. Having prejudices makes someone human and not evil or bad. Rev. Warrens prejudices against gays do not make him a bad person.

When his prejudices lead to discrimination, that is what makes it wrong. We don’t like the prejudice in him, just like we don’t like the prejudices in ourselves. But the prejudice ideas, thoughts, and words are NOT the problem we are fighting against. It is the outright discrimination that is intolerable.

My church would love to be able to marry to loving, committed, consenting adults. But people like Warren want to prevent that! That is the problem. Don’t try and make this a free speech issue. It is is cut and dry a discrimination issue.

Take care,
Alec

Whew. And here I was, thinking that His Obamaness had invited Mattson to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast. Thank Ghu that –

Oops. Turns out I was right. Oh, well; us sons of monkey and pigs will, somehow, manage to bear up under the strain.

Yes, DH, you have the great right to speak your mind, but that does not mean you deserve an historic platform to speak those ideas.

We would never give a national platform to someone who believed that blacks, women, or Jews were somehow “lesser” children of God, and that is exactly what Warren believes about Gays. He believes they are inherently flawed and wrong.

So, yes, DH, you can believe and say whatever you like, but when what you say is hurtful and abhorrent to the American ideal of equality, why should you be given the platform to say it? You can be a racist, homophobe, xenophobe or whatever, but if you express those ideas in public I will express my opposing view.

No one ever said Warren couldn’t say whatever he likes. We just don’t think his oppressive views should be given a national stage, just like we wouldn’t give a national stage to other bigots.

Reverend Warren can believe whatever he wants, but the second he tries to limit other people’s rights, then he crosses the line. He doesn’t want to marry a man, that is fabulous for him. He doesn’t want to perform a ceremony for gays in his church. Outstanding. He wants to stop people he doesn’t even know from getting married, that is what is un-American and horrible.

By the way, I served in Baghdad for a year fighting for the rights of all Americans, including homosexuals.
Take care,
Alec