[quote=harvey]Yes, we’ve got better things to talk about right now:
1858: “Of course slavery is cruel, but we’ve got a continent to tame, railroads to build, and we are right in the midst of an economic panic…”
1918: “Sorry ladies, I agree you should be allowed to vote, but we’re right in the middle of this Great War and this flu pandemic …”
1963: “Yes, Civil Rights are important, but the Soviet threat is looming, our president has just been assassinated, and we’ve got a war brewing in Southeast Asia…”
There’s always a better time to help the people who don’t really matter anyway.[/quote]
FWIW I support the right of gay couples to marry. However, comparing this issue to slavery, women’s suffrage, or civil rights belittles the severity and importance of those issues in American history.
Gay marriage affects a very small minority of people. To them it is very serious, and we all understand that and I believe most of us support the right for all to marry. But let’s get real, we are not talking wholesale deprivation of personal liberty (slavery), voting rights (Jim Crow/women’s suffrage), or civil rights here.
I wonder if MLK would have been a gay marriage supporter? He was a Baptist minister, after all — I’m guessing probably not.
