The big difference between the right and the left
is simply that the right wants a theocracy,
and the left does not.
More below the squiggly.
The most personal topic
in which this truth comes out
is clearly sex.
There may be millions
who vote for Republicans
for economic reasons,
but Bill Clinton just explained,
that simply doesn't make any sense.
I'm not absolutely certain about this,
but I have one good friend
who is a conservative,
and I asked him if morality
is the biggest reason that he,
and other conservatives,
vote for Republicans,
and he said yes.
I take a very extreme view on this topic,
and most of you will not agree with me,
but that's okay.
Here is the way I see things:
Morality is not a concrete thing,
standing on its own,
apart from human feelings,
but rather,
our collective morality
is always changing,
and never firmly set.
We have,
at any one time,
a general understanding,
amongst some of us,
as to what is morally good or bad.
There is never universal agreement,
the numbers are always shifting.
Examples are,
slavery,
and the way black Americans are living now,
the way women are living now,
and the way
lesbian women,
gay men,
bisexual men and women,
and transgender men and women,
the way they live in America now.
I put slavery into the list,
as an example of an idea
that gradually went from morally acceptable,
to morally very bad,
in the minds of nearly everyone on Earth.
The situation of black Americans
is the next logical thing to mention,
and a part of my life,
since I just married a black woman,
and I'm living with her uncle and three brothers.
I have nothing profound to report on this topic,
but my new family is made up of
very strong and smart men and women,
and they are not always recognized as such.
The next topic is the way women live
in America today.
I grew up with three older sisters,
very strong-willed women,
women who pushed ahead in high school,
and beyond.
One of my sisters,
Lois Gibson,
is the world's most successful
police sketch artist.
Here is her website:
http://www.loisgibson.com/
My point is,
when Women's Liberation came along,
in 1970,
I already understood the point,
that my sisters,
with all due respect to my mother,
my sisters,
and their generation of women,
felt they needed more respect than my mother's generation of women
ever got.
One example of that respect,
if I understand correctly,
is that marital rape
was recognized by the system
sometime after 1970.
On each of those points,
it seems to me,
that Republicans have their morality
shifted somewhat back in time,
but they do not make a lot of
clear, open statements to that effect,
aside from the "legitimate rape" comment,
which was quickly abandoned,
not confirmed.
The points the Republicans do not abandon,
the points they confirm,
again and again,
are their feelings
about what is morally right and wrong,
with regards to sex.
Sex.
The simplest statement of the left
is that whatever consenting adults do in private,
is morally acceptable to us on the left.
Keep in mind,
there are problems with promiscuity,
such as,
sexually transmittable diseases,
babies the parents are not ready to raise,
and broken hearts.
However,
consider the situation
of a bisexual man or woman,
and another woman,
and another man,
the three of them living together,
sharing everything,
money and sex,
freely.
How do they get the benefits
of marriage,
with three adults,
not two?
I bring this up
to point out that,
as I wrote near the top,
morality is not clear,
it does not stand alone;
it's nothing more than a feeling
in the minds of certain people.
We hear a lot about helping same sex couples
to live lives equal to hetero couples,
but what about three adults?
And,
keep in mind,
that whatever arrangement folks have,
they probably have it,
not just for adventure,
not if it's long term;
they have sex with someone
to fill a deep emotional need,
not just for a little fun.
Seems to me.
Considering how important
these emotional needs are,
considering that people sometimes kill themselves
because of feeling lonely,
sex and companionship,
the kind of companionship
that includes sex,
that seems very important to me.
So,
this is where I stand:
I want Democrats,
or someone,
to declare a sexual liberation movement,
to make it clear
that it makes no sense
to insist that sex should never be approved,
by the public in general,
unless it's within a traditional marriage,
one man,
one woman.
We need to fight hard on this.
We need to have candidates for public office,
not just gay,
but bi-sexual,
and involved sexually with
not just one other adult,
but two or more.
Most of all,
we need to make it clear
that the Republicans want a theocracy;
they feel that they know the will of god,
and they feel,
deep down,
that no matter what,
they cannot let Democrats control America,
because they feel that sexual morality,
enforcing and encouraging their idea
of sexual morality,
a morality they believe is handed down from god,
they feel that that goal
is bigger than any other goal,
and they will destroy America,
to get in power,
so that they can have their theocracy.
Thanks for reading.
4:28 AM PT: P. S. the reason Meteor Blades is in the tags, is that we must remember his sig line:
"Don't tell me what you believe, show me what you do, and I'll tell you what you believe."
The Republicans, by their actions, show that they believe that sexual morality of their preference is more important than jobs or health care.