Here’s Two Bits, Go and Eat
I rarely use this blog to address specific topics or issues. In fact, this is hereto unheard of. However, as so many crucial events are currently unfolding within in our society, I’d like to join the conversation and contribute my voice.
A few days ago, the Supreme Court made a ruling that all states in the union must now recognize same-sex marriages. Effectively, the ruling is forcing states to eliminate discrimination against same-sex marriages. This is a social issue. It is a lifting of the restrictions placed against individuals that exist within and contribute to our society. While they are a specific demographic subset in the population, they still have needs. It is critically important to understand the case from the eyes of the individuals whom it directly impacts. As a society, we should be always pushed towards improving the conditions of humanity around us. Moving from the individual perspective to one which upholds the concerns of a collective society requires empathy.
Since the ruling, there has been an outpour of public opinion. As it is quite a personal topic, it has spurred incredibly personal responses, on both sides of the spectrum. There seems to be a lot of panic about change, about values. Reading through this slurry of intense personal diatribes, though frustrating, is perhaps the beginning of a crucial conversation that has finally been sparked and now must continue.
In reading through the court’s syllabus, I found that most of the issues and topics that are being so hotly bruised about on the ‘net are directly addressed in the case. One of the dissenting voices concern over the question of the justice of the case: That the Supreme Court is stealing the power of the people by making this decision for them. It seems it’s now the duty of the people to continue the conversation and to consider what has been argued. It’s good that this concern was addressed, but the argument was overruled. It was put to a vote by representatives elected by the people. The majority ruled it unjust to deny people the constellation of rights that marriage allows, discriminating on the sole factor of sexual orientation. Ultimately, the social injustice outweighs the orthodox standard.
And that’s what is so interesting about this case, and perhaps what is the first spark of real social change for our generation. It’s the first step of a new perspective. Instead of battering on the old horn: “Separation of church and state! Separation of church and state!”, we’ll have to take a new adage: “Empathy in governance”. Or something about tolerance. “Back off and let people be free.” I don’t know, somebody else make something up.
Now, I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time in Ireland. It’s an incredible country, Éire, full of musicians, poets, rebels. The people here are generally very trusting and hospitable, but there is a deep streak of distrust and unease in society that flows at varying depths between individuals and governance. This country operates on stories and contradictions. At restaurants in country pubs, tips overflow on an unattended plate next to the cash register, and nobody thinks to steal them. Yet it’s not uncommon for me to walk to to the shop up the road and read that the local grocery store, bank, and post office were robbed, in completely unrelated incidences, two by gunpoint and one by the tip of a knife. There is an olde world that still breathes enchanted in rustic Ireland, yet a long history of conflict has forged a completely unique perspective and attitude towards government, church, and fellow man.
I bring this up partly because my Irish friends would like to merrily remind the Americans that, while their Supreme Court decision is dandy and all, Ireland made it first. And not only did Ireland vote to ratify their constitution to recognize marriage irrespective of sexual orientation, they did it through popular vote, the first country in the world to do so. This sparked a lot of interesting conversation about how Ireland, an incredibly Catholic country, where church bells ring at specific times of day on public radio and where people still passionately use God’s blessings and curses in their everyday language, would be able to be so liberal in this regard.
But maybe it’s not being liberal. Maybe there’s something else going on here, something that seems like a gaping separation to the general consciousness, but is actually just genuine social tendency for compassion and equality. It’s a dichotomy, for sure. Ask your average Irishman if he’d like a gay person to live next door to him, he’ll probably say no. Ask if he thinks that a gay person should have the right to marry whoever he wants, he’ll say: Ah, hell, let him do what he wants, so long as I don’t have to see it. It’s much deeper than being jaded with the Catholic church, it’s a deep empathy and hunger for justice that exists in the souls of the Irish. Maybe it’s a rebel view, but the thought here seems to be that conservative personal beliefs are not justification for injustice in society.
Anyway, I don’t want to go on forever. I just wanted to join the conversation. Maybe together we can expand this conversation to connect us more honestly as a society, to dig deeper past the slough of extremes and the buzz of the media to recognize the existing state of inequality around us, and to be open-minded and empathetic toward the human condition as we experience it. We each have a social responsibility. We move towards the liberation of free will and individuality, while still protecting the well-being of the people and the standard of society. We can see it in the rise of grassroots movements around the Nation, we can see it in the painful awareness of social inequality regarding race, and we can see it in the rise of public awareness through genuine risks individuals have taken to promote transparency. We must continue the conversation. This is just the start.