Almost a full damn year. Almost. And I haven't said a thing in that time. Nothing smart, nothing witty, nothing overly intriguing. Nope. Instead, I've been nonexistent, falling into the lurk mode but, hey. It's been a year and I have a question for the... three and a half of you who might happen upon this lackluster attempt at a 'blog'.
"Should issues of civil rights be up for public vote?"
My opinion? Not solely. Of course this is a question sparked by the recent Prop 8 in Cali and the whole idea of the public voting on whether or not homosexuals should have the right to marriage. Some cite that it's unnatural, others quote biblical texts and others, well, not to generalize, but you will have many who are simply bigoted. But, opinions aside, the fact of the matter is, the majority's rights are always set in stone while those who fit into the minority (Not just colour, but gender, sexual preference, religious choice, ethnicity, etc.) are almost dependent on the empathy of the majority to attain the same rights in a democratic nation.
If you don't have enough who empathize and, the question of right or wrong is moot because the majority has their view that might differ with it. That, alone, is scary. Whether or not you agree with the people or what they fight for shouldn't be the driving force as to whether or not they have the same rights that you have and, might, take for granted. But on the flipside, who's to say that government even has the interests of the people in their sights in these situations? I don't know. The whole idea of denying and doling out rights is a risky game, not because of some slippery slope mentality but because of the process that we have or should have to handle such situations.