Tuesday, October 25, 2005

THE DAY IS AT HAND

“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

(Romans 13:12)

QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY

 “Genuine morality is preserved only in the school of adversity; a state of continuous prosperity may easily prove a quicksand to virtue"

(Schiller)

“Prosperity discovers vice; adversity discovers virtue.”

(Francis Bacon)

"We become wiser through adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.”

(Seneca)

THE PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES
OF THE CURRENT GAY RIGHTS LAW

Until recently, few Mainers had heard the terms used in the gay rights law, phrases such as “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.”  The discussion has been carried out on an abstract level, without much thought given to what the law means in practical terms to the families, educators, and small business owners of Maine.

Thanks to the addition of the phrase “sexual orientation” to the Allentown Pennsylvania Human Relations Ordinance, a county jail in Carbon County, Pennsylvania was forced to reinstate a transgendered prison guard. The guard, named Nancy Stevens, was formerly named Charlie Tertel, who had worked at the county prison since 1988.

After “gender reassignment surgery” (a sex-change operation) Stevens showed up for work dressed as a woman. After lengthy negotiation between her union and the county, Stevens was kept on as a guard.   She is now allowed to use the women’s bathroom, the women’s locker room, and to conduct strip searches of women prisoners.

The use of the phrases “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in the current Maine law opens the door to similar situations in Maine.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Society Becomes Stranger and Stranger

Tragically, many psychologists and sociologists have noted that even in same-sex “marriages,” both partners take on heterosexual gender roles. That is, one person will play a female role and the other will play a male role. Some members of the gay community have denounced this imitation of heterosexual marriage by inventing a new term. The new term for the phenomenon to be avoided is called “couple-ism.”

Since marriage is thought to be an outmoded “patriarchal” institution, taking on gender roles within a same-sex marriage is to be avoided. In other words, same-sex marriage is good as long as it is not like real marriage, which is bad, because it is patriarchal and oppressive and involves sex roles.

In the words of one radical activist: “I was blind to racism, ageism, sexism, couple-ism, and in general, all of the ways that people are oppressed…”

The invention of a new term to describe a hitherto unknown phenomenon shows that society is becoming increasingly confused with regard to sexual morality.

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM
SCORES A PERFECT 10.0
FOR THE GAY RIGHTS LOBBY

The Maine Sunday Telegram couldn’t have given a better performance if it had been scripted. On Sunday, it performed flawlessly, recommending the recent study on discrimination in Maine to its readers, without a single mention of the methods used in the study.

At the same time, the paper ran letters from its readers in support of the gay rights law, with not a single dissenting opinion. The first letter was from Thomas Ewell, Executive Director of the Maine Council of Churches. Above the letters was a photo of Ewell speaking to a group of gay rights activists at the Capitol. Above the photo were the words: “VOICE OF THE PEOPLE: Civil Rights Law Should Stay.”

We can just see Ted O’Meara, Jesse Connolly, and all the other folks at Maine Won't Discriminate holding up the score cards now. “They’re all 10.0! Incredible! A perfect score on the compulsory event!”

Two weeks before the election, not a single dissenting voice could be heard in the entire paper.

Listeners to “Air America” (1190 AM) will note  the curious phenomenon that many of the same stories carried on Air America are featured in the Portland Press Herald the next day with just the same spin. Curious, isn’t it?