rongo Posted February 8, 2018 Posted February 8, 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/08/bermuda-repeal-same-sex-marriage Outlier, or harbinger of shifting momentum for the gay marriage juggernaut? We have several open threads on gay issues.
smac97 Posted February 8, 2018 Posted February 8, 2018 1 minute ago, rongo said: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/08/bermuda-repeal-same-sex-marriage Outlier, or harbinger of shifting momentum for the gay marriage juggernaut? Probably an outlier. This may signal some pushback as to the bullying the gay rights folks have been utilizing for the past several years. We'll see, I guess. I made some related observations about this back in December: Quote Speaking of "religious 'shaming'" (written by a gay man and published in the Washington Post) (emphases added): Quote BuzzFeed’s hit piece on Chip and Joanna Gaines is dangerous By Brandon Ambrosino December 1, 2016 I am currently planning my wedding, and I’ve never been happier. I believe that God brought me and Andy together and that God celebrates our love. I also believe that our marriage will offer a powerful testimony to skeptics that queer love can be God-honoring, and even sacramental. I have heard from a few well-meaning Christian friends that they feel they can’t attend my ceremony. I think that’s silly, I think it’s theologically misguided, and it hurts me deeply because it makes it seem as if they care more about abstract principles than me, their friend and family member. Still, I do not think these conservatives should be shamed or mocked. I do not think they should be fired. And I certainly do not think they should be the butt of a popular BuzzFeed article. I’m referring to a non-story written by Kate Aurthur, published Tuesday on BuzzFeed. The piece starts off innocently enough by describing the success of Chip and Joanna Gaines, a husband-and-wife team whose series “Fixer Upper” is one of the most popular shows on HGTV. After pivoting to the religious beliefs of the Gaineses, and pointing out that they go to an evangelical church whose pastors oppose same-sex marriage, Aurthur then poses these questions: “So are the Gaineses against same-sex marriage? And would they ever feature a same-sex couple on the show, as have HGTV’s ‘House Hunters’ and ‘Property Brothers’?” The entire article is an elaborate exploration of that hypothetical question. And yes, it is very much hypothetical, by the reporter’s own admission: “Emails to Brock Murphy, the public relations director at their company, Magnolia, were not returned. Nor were emails and calls to HGTV’s PR department.” But that does not stop Aurthur from writing almost 800 more words about the non-story. Her upshot seems to be: Two popular celebrities might oppose same-sex marriage because the pastor of the church they go to opposes same-sex marriage, but I haven’t heard one way or the other. (I can’t imagine pitching that story to an editor and getting a green light, by the way.) Besides the fact that the entire case is made by speculation and suggestion, there are many other problems at play. Here are a few of them. A 2016 survey from Pew Research Center shows public support of same-sex marriage is at an all-time high of 55 percent — and it is steadily growing. But the same polls tell us that nearly 4 out of 10 Americans — no small number! — are not on board with it. The minds at BuzzFeed are not naive: They know that the Gaineses and HGTV are going to have to come out with a public statement on same-sex marriage. They also know that if the statement is not 100 percent supportive of same-sex marriage, the network will be pressured to drop them. Gotta love that. Mr. Ambrosino, very much to his credit, recognizes that people like the Gaineses are either "shamed" into silence about or coerced ("They also know that if the statement is not 100 percent supportive of same-sex marriage, the network will be pressured to drop them") into supporting same-sex marriage. Quote Think about that for a moment. Is the suggestion here that 40 percent of Americans are unemployable because of their religious convictions on marriage? That the companies that employ them deserve to be boycotted until they yield to the other side of the debate — a side, we should note, that is only slightly larger than the one being shouted down? If by "unemployable" he means "anyone who dares either oppose or not actively endorse and embrace same-sex marriage is not entitled to a livelihood," then yes, that is the "suggestion." I applaud Mr. Ambrosino for his willingness to speak about this. Quote BuzzFeed is probably at the forefront of discussions surrounding diversity in entertainment. But do their reporters think diversity refers only to skin color? Does ideological diversity count for nothing, especially when it is representative of, again, a sizable chunk of the American public? It’s hard to make the case that the website promotes this kind of diversity, particularly on same-sex marriage. In June, Ben Smith, the publication’s editor in chief, told Politico that “there are not two sides” on the issue. Wow. "There are not two sides" on the issue of same-sex marriage. This is the world in which we now live, folks. Who is "shaming" who, really? Quote A few years ago, gay activists decided the best way to win arguments in favor of same-sex marriage was to shut up their opponents. All they had to do was lob a charge of homophobia and the argument was won. Or they tweeted at the companies that employed the “homophobes” until they were fired. Conservatives were bullied on social media and mocked for being ***-backward (and indeed, some of them were and are). But they were never taken seriously. Yep. And with the complicity of a pliant media, that strategy continues to this day. It happens regularly on this board. Quote As a community, LGBT people did a terrible job of settling the issue of same-sex marriage from a political, ethical and logical standpoint — and now the issue is back to haunt us. What we need to do is what we should have been doing all along: engage our opponents, answer their questions, and use appeals to philosophy and — yes! — theology to thwart their arguments. Anti-same-sex-marriage arguments are very easy to win, in my opinion. Appeals to natural law are often arbitrary and unaware of how historically contingent they are. Arguments from Scripture do not hold water because most Christians do not consistently apply their biblical hermeneutic. Arguments that queer love is not real love do not hold up under the weight of the extraordinary experiential reality of the millions of committed gay couples who love each other selflessly. Again, I applaud Mr. Ambrosino here. I disagree with him at a pretty fundamental level, but at least he is calling for principled and reasoned debate and discussion, rather than the let's-shame-anyone-who-disagrees-with-us-by-labeling-them-bigots-and-homophobes schtick that is much, much more prevalent (and toxic). Quote BuzzFeed can’t argue that the same-sex-marriage issue is ethically settled, because it isn’t for a sizable population of our country and our world. It is no longer okay — indeed, it never was — to write cutesy articles shaming religious people as homophobic for simply being one of the many millions of Americans in 2016 who attend a religious congregation that does not support same-sex marriage. That is not a good move for activism or journalism. Well said. Mr. Ambrosino is correct. I think the "terrible job" the LGBT folks have done in persuading people like me is ongoing. And it will come back to haunt them. Nobody likes being bullied and coerced. So, is Bermuda about to get a dose of the above-referenced "let's-shame-anyone-who-disagrees-with-us-by-labeling-them-bigots-and-homophobes" schtick? I would guess . . . yes. It's the go-to strategy. And unfortunately, it has been effective. Again, the LGBT folks have done a "terrible job" in persuading people like me as to the merits of their position. They have resorted to bullying, threats and coercion. It has worked on some, but not all. And sooner or later, it will come back to haunt them. Thanks, -Smac 3
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