After many years of evolution, sources of information, such as the media, books, past research, and the compelling voices of “people of authority” give us something to latch on to. An argument that seems to make sense of an issue after about five minutes of analysis can often be adopted by the person doing the analysis, be it a reader or a listener.

Interestingly, these "truths" that are derived from such sources are often distributed in many ways, and these messages say, “This is the truth. This is the way things are.” Sometimes, subliminally hidden within this kind of message is, “If you do not agree with this, then there is something severely wrong with you.”

Religious leaders often participate in this process, using the words from their respective, respected scriptures to convey the truth, the truth that the group believes in, and sometimes the truth that the group believes others should believe in as well.

Proposition 22, an item recently passed by California voters, makes marriages between two people who are homosexual illegal. California can also refuse to acknowledge gay marriages that were legal in other states. The recent occurrences regarding Proposition 22 (also called the Knight Initiative) in California further reinforces a tragic trend in our society. As an eclectic nation, in regards to public policy, we are governed by laws, secular laws. Religious law does not govern us in the public scope because not everyone in this nation believes in the same religion. Not every person in America even believes in God or Allah or whatever deity a respective religion calls the Creator. Religion cannot be a viable justification when trying to make laws that apply to the entire general public.

From the various sources I have consulted on this matter, the Christian religions seem to be the ones most opposed (and most public in their opposition) to homosexual marriages in America. I have talked to many of these opponents on this issue and similar issues, and, in the end, the only way they can really justify their argument is one statement: “That is the way it is.”

No one knows "how it is." The justifications these religious groups use for their arguments largely come from their scriptures, basically words. What happens is this: “I have read this, The Word of God, and I have the Truth!” Reality is not words, and several religions argue this. Nagarjuna, a figure in Zen Buddhism, says that words that claim to hold the ultimate truth are shunyata, or “empty.” Hinduism calls this illusionary world maya. From a secular point of view, I argue that reality is not words as well. If I am standing by a sign that says, “Welcome to Roanoke,” I am not in Roanoke. Roanoke is beyond the sign. Similarly, the words in sacred text are merely a signpost to a truth, not the truth. No one knows “how things are.” The interpretations that come from these scriptures and are consequently used to fight these “holy wars” (now that is a contradiction) cannot be fully accurate because the authors are dead. What one reads is not the truth and not not the truth.

I speak from experience. I was once asked if I believed in God. “Yes, I do,” I answered. “Were you baptized?” he asked me. “No, I wasn’t,” I answered. He then told me that I was “going to hell” because I was not baptized. “Why?” I asked him. “Because the Bible says so!” His statement was based on his interpretation of words. I don’t even know what passage says something remotely close to that. I was once approached by a fundamentalist Christian who asked me if I was saved. She proceeded to tell me, essentially, that the Bible is the instruction book for getting to heaven. This sentiment is actually brought to modern society courtesy of St. Augustine, who synthesized the Bible with Plato’s Phaedo, the philosophical work that introduced the two-world model. St. Augustine proceeded to tell the world, “The Bible says we have to get to heaven, and this is how we do it.” Christianity does not encompass all of Humanity, and likewise not all Christians embrace this Augustinian idea.

I am surprised that many Christians are opposed to homosexual marriage. Jesus’ message was agape, “love thy neighbor.” Shouldn’t that mean love everyone? Aren’t we all on Earth together? There is nothing to fear in people who are gay. The gay lifestyle (if there is such a thing) is only different to the heterosexual lifestyle in that people who are gay choose to have sexual relations with a person of the same sex. How does that one sliver of life happen to drill into the lives of others who are not gay? Simple. It shouldn’t. If it does, such effects on a human’s psyche are only the result of that human’s narrow-mindedness. “That’s not how I live; therefore, it is wrong.” There’s another word for this phenomenon: “ethnocentrism.” If there is a “gay lifestyle,” it should be respectfully treated as a subculture and examined in a cultural relativist perspective. To do otherwise would be a throwback to the anthropological theory of early evolution, spurned because it relied heavily on, among other things, racism.

Many political figures are relying on “gay” stereotypes. I have heard Trent Lott make some rather rash comments about people who are homosexual. Some leaders of “traditional values organizations” are guilty of this as well. The Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition calls some of the proposed legislation in Sacramento, California, that would provide for medical leave, inheritance and the right to make funeral arrangements “gay bills.” Honestly, how does one’s sexual orientation that cannot be controlled or unwillingly changed affect such things?

The fact that there even was a Proposition 22 is disheartening for me. I tend to lean towards the Democrats and the Independents in political issues, but lately I am warming up to the idea of grassroots government prevailing in many issues. Abortion, affirmative action and now gay marriages are on state and national agendas. Where in the Constitution is the tenet that provides for the legislation of the way people love the people they love? Are we such a passive nation that we have allowed Uncle Sam to take up residence in the biggest part of our hearts? I don’t think this is a stupid nation. I think this is an ignorant nation.

I can guarantee that this proposition will be challenged. This law, for me, is a violation of the 14th Amendment, and denies people who are homosexual due process of law and equal protection under the laws.

All religions say is there is suffering, pain, war, and civil strife in the world. There is a tremendous possibility that one way to get on the path to ending these things is complete unity among the human race. Love thy neighbor. This quibble in California is essentially an attack on the beauty of love and is one of many ways that the human race is losing touch with the quest to advance into true greatness. That greatness is the complete acceptance of everyone, no matter what they look like, think or do. Only then can we, the citizens of this planet, make Earth worth living on. In my mind Proposition 22 was an attack on the freedom of humanity and was not worth supporting.

Think for yourself. Don’t believe a word I have written without learning it for yourself. If there is such a thing as sin, it is for one to become who s/he is because of the experience of others.