uhm... amerikansk läxa.

In November of last year a ballot was passed by California Voters to outlaw same-sex marriage. On Thursday the California Supreme Court heard arguments on the ballot initiative while under intense pressure from both sides of the debate. The opponents of Proposition 8 find the hearing to be a critical legal test but also a perfect chance to show that they are not “passive participants to their own struggle”. The Thursday hearing was treated by some activists as a combination of election night and Super Bowl. For example Proposition 8 opponents in San Francisco put up a Jumbotron screen in front of the courtroom so those who would not be able to fit in the courtroom wouldn’t miss anything. Supporters of Proposition 8 held a day of prayer on Sunday where they asked the justices to “be granted wisdom and for our opponents to understand that our support of Proposition 8 is to affirm traditional marriage, not to denigrate gays.” In May of last year the California Supreme Court opened the door for around 18,000 same-sex marriages before the Proposition 8 was passed. On Thursday the justice were expected to decide on the validity of these marriages as well.

I understand the Proposition 8 supporters’ reasons for wanting marriage to be strictly between a man and a woman. First of all, I do so because it does have biblical background and meaning and that’s where the concept of marriage was first established. It was to be a union between a man and a woman. Secondly, it does disgrace Christianity to some extent to take a holy event and modernize it to fit modern needs – religion hasn’t changed much over these thousands of years that it has been around (is the corruption of churches really gone now?), it was written to be understood and practiced in one way and that is the way it should be. Third and last, marriage has traditionally been between a man and a woman and breaking traditions does take away a part of the culture, I know that we Swedes would be devastated if someone decided that the flower-pole we put up on midsummer should be dressed in thorns instead of roses – it just wouldn’t be the same. It would take away the sacredness of that silly tradition of ours. But even though I can understand where the supporters for Proposition 8 are coming from I also believe that it was not fair to propose the Proposition in the first place. I do not give a squat when it comes to religion and quite frankly I think that it is time for a lot of people to pull themselves up and get on with life. So what if you end up in hell, big deal –at least you won’t be alone. Times changes, but one thing that has been around for a long time is homosexuality. People have always tried to close their eyes and pretend like it wasn’t there but just because you can’t see something that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. So when are all the conservative religious folks going to realize that change equals progress (there are other reasons for why they should understand this too, one starts with Barack and ends with Obama) and that it wouldn’t hurt to try something new every now and then – after all you only have one life. And I would like them to think about why they decided to get married once upon a time and how it changed them as a couple. Maybe then could they understand why Homosexuals also wants to be able to join in marriage. Marriage has progressed from its original purpose as a religious rite of passage to a symbol and a social rite of passage that often have no religious affiliation whatsoever. It’s time for those who missed the modernization train to catch up and get on it because the train station they are at is a demolition project.