Proposition 8 Passed, Do I Care?

So here is the deal. This past week, the campaign to make gay and lesbian marriages no longer legal in the state of California (Proposition 8) was passed. This means that the gay and lesbian couples who could previously get married in California no longer can do such a thing, at least not for now.

The bigger question is, do I really care?

First off, I'm not a resident of California which gives me a certain air of disinterest in the entire production and as a resident of Utah, I highly doubt that gay or lesbian marriages are going to be legal anytime soon in my state. On the other hand, far too many people here at Brigham Young University seem to think it their godly duty to fight for a campaign they can't even legally vote for.

So, where do I stand?

I guess that a little bit of background information might help a little bit. As a member of the LDS Church I don't believe in homosexuality in the slightest. Some will argue, "It's a personal choice," while others lay claim to, "It's something a person is born with and cannot control." I happen to believe that the "born with it" argument is complete bunk, and it is a conscious choice that a person makes, but that is neither here nor there I suppose. The point is, I'm not a supporter of homosexual behavior, but at the same time, if a friend of mine were to decide to be a practicing gay or lesbian I wouldn't hate them for it. My relationship would probably stay pretty much the same in regards to them. They are my friend, they can live their life how they want. If they ask me for my support, they won't have it, but that support is mine to give so I feel justified in that stance.

With all of my personal thoughts on homosexuality out in the public domain now, let's discuss how this all relates to Proposition 8 for me personally.

Obviously I'm not going to encourage gay and lesbian marriages as I don't believe in them, but who am I to be judge, jury, and executioner in this day and age? I'm certainly not God, but I do know that whatever choices a person makes in life they will be accountable for. Should I support an issue that takes away the choice or certain people, or should I support an issue just because the leaders of my faith are?

Interesting question isn't it? I'm one of those folks who very strongly believe in the principle of agency. Don't want to do something? Then don't. Unless it directly harms my life, I quite frankly don't care much what you decide to do. Do I think that if Proposition 8 had not passed that the quality of life for LDS members in California would have deteriorated? No, I certainly do not, and anyone who thinks so is being silly.

Just because gay and lesbian marriages were legal didn't mean anything had to change for LDS members if you ask me. You don't have to go to one of those weddings, you don't have to be involved, and you can live your life according to the tenets of your faith just fine regardless.

Now, if I were a resident of California, I likely would have voted yes on Proposition 8, but not for the reasons everyone else around BYU is screaming about, and certainly not because, "The Church said so, so you better, or you're going to hell." People, please, act your age for a few minutes.

Proposition 8 is most likely a good cause, and worth my support in the end, but what turns me off to the issue is the zealots around BYU who think they are fighting a war much bigger than the one they actually are fighting, and the folks who turn their noses at others who say, "I'm not a resident of California, it doesn't matter to me, my support on your state issue means nothing at the moment," or the folks who simply don't get it at all.

So, Apparently There is a New President of the United States

I didn't write this post yesterday, the day after the elections were finished because I figured there would be too many people already posting about the election results, but perhaps lots of people will be talking about it today as well, who knows.

Barack Obama is the next President of the United States. I can't say as that I'm extremely pleased with the outcome, but I'm not going to complain either for a variety of reasons. If John McCain had won, I'd be in pretty much the same boat. I don't think either of them will make that great of a president, and after watching the campaigns and seeing the state of the country, I don't know that the alternatives of Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney would have been all that better in the long run either.

What really gets me entertained however is this prevailing attitude, especially on BYU campus that the end of the world is now near because a black man is president. People, please, get your heads out the the sand and pay attention. He isn't going to bring about the Apocalypse nor the downfall of the United States as a whole. I'm pretty sure all of the fatalistic Obama haters out there are gonna be wishing all they had to deal with was Barack Obama when the Apocalypse shows up someday. Honestly, learn how to think for yourselves for once.

I'm not a big fan of all the ideas that Obama has for changing the country, and I'm pretty sure tha half or more of them won't ever come to fruition, so I'm frankly not all that worried about it. Universal healthcare is a mistake in this country however, that I will say. Everything else... meh, it truly doesn't effect me all that much from what I can see. At the moment I don't make enough money to care about taxes raising or lowering, and I don't own a gun, and so on and so on.

Interestingly, so many people seem to think that their lives are going to go down the crapper because Obama won (although I'm sure it would be the same with an opposite result). Strangely though, people often seem to look past the immediate scope of their lives and how they live to see how it could maybe, possibly, if the stars aligned correctly, and it was a full moon, affect them down the line.

Perhaps I'm the black sheep in the world and nobody else thinks that approach is a bit excessive, but I'm mostly concerned with my immediate future and unless Barack Obama declares martial law and forces me to eat sauerkraut for three meals a day at gunpoint, my current situation, and that of the next 24-36 months is not going to change much. Maybe when the time comes for the 2012 elections I'll be in a life situation where the issues at hand more direclty effect me, but until then, I'd like to have French Toast for dinner.