This time I thought for sure they wouldn't publish this one...but I believe our local paper, The Stevens Point Journal is a very liberal, progressive little newspaper. The elders ignored my last letter...I wonder if they can ignore this one??? Oh how I love it!!
Discrimination. To me it's such a dirty word I'm surprised it doesn't consist of only four letters! The dictionary defines it as: “To make distinctions in treatment; show partiality or prejudice”. Folks, discrimination is alive and well in Wisconsin. My brain told me that gay marriage rights wouldn't pass through the vote Tuesday. My heart wishes it had.
Why do people deny other's human rights? All through history there have been examples of people or organizations who took discrimination to a destructive level. The Holocaust, the Crusades and Slavery, to mention a few, brought on by people who wanted to decide for others what they should believe. People who wanted to eliminate those who were different.
I have experience with marriage discrimination. When my son decided to marry, his wedding was boycotted by many members of our religion at that time, Jehovah's Witnesses. His fiancee was raised in this religion, but at the time she was not baptized. Thus, she was considered an unbeliever. Two days before the wedding a sermon was given about the evils and disciplinary consequences involved in attending this “unevenly yoked” wedding. A wedding planned for 350 was attended by 130. Though this may seem trivial when compared with gay marriage discrimination, the pain and hurt it caused was life changing. As a result of having my son's basic human right to choose whom he could marry denied, we left this dogmatic religion.
Today, in a country that bases it's government on the perception that all people are created equal, why do we let discriminatory religious beliefs dictate that only certain people may enjoy the benefits that a legal marriage gives a couple? My heart goes out to all the gay men and women who are discriminated against and denied equal rights.
Please take a few moments today to reflect on the freedoms and rights that you have living in a supposedly free country. Aren't you gratified that you are able to enjoy those privileges and not be the victims of discrimination? I am.
Cathy Laszewski