I have finally come to something approaching a coherent position on the drama about the Inaugural prayer Invocation.
Much of this is a comment buried in another diary, but I decided that it might merit a diary, for historical perspective.
Anyways, it's late, and I haven't posted one of my dogs in awhile.
I was young during the Civil Rights and Feminist uprising heyday. It seems there comes a time when the walls are breeched, but there is no flood.
In 1970 a woman still couldn't open a bank account w/o her husband's signiture. The only AA people on TV were maids, & all the fashion & product models were blonde. The commercials were still Donna Reed housewife types hyping dishwashing liquid. Sammy Davis Jr and Pearl Baily were the only black artists on tv. Amos n' Andy & The Little Rascals were still regular re-runs.
MLK was making speeches, leading marches, and inspiring the conscience of America.
Feminists were burning bras.
Young men were burning draft cards.
AAs & women were angry and insisting on equality.
It was uncomfortable for The Establishment and the populace used to the status quo & fearful of change.
But change had to come. The boiling point had been reached.
Then the plays Hair and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf were big hits on Broadway.
During that time of upheaval, the Stonewall riot happened. Gay people began to make a stand.
Then things started to change, gradually.
By 1980 the change was established. Women and African Americans were finally free, and gay people were coming out.
AIDS really lit the fire, & gay people united & started agitating.
I have no problem with Pastor Warren saying a prayer for all Americans. He speaks to people we can't reach with our urgency for change. He speaks to people who fear change to the status quo. Those people have gay family, and some are married to gay people, and they know it. They have Pastors who are gay, and they are shocked even though they suspected it.
Ultimately, I think that many of them will see the light, and will decide that is better for gay people to marry each other, rather than live a lie in a traditional marriage.
I think Brokeback Mountain may have been the turning point.
That said, here's Nina:
And the struggle continued. Apartheid was a festering sore, and we agitated for equal rights and justice. Peter Tosh didn't want no peace. He needed Equal Rights and Justice.
The struggle for justice is an ongoing, apparently never-ending journey. We have to keep fighting for it. The results of our efforts are not always immediately apparent, but we make progress, and things change. The boiling point is reached, and the change is inevitable.
Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights:
But if your Mom is slow to change, if you treat her with loving kindness, she'll come around.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
Plato
(Greek author & philosopher in Athens (427 BC - 347 BC)