NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/co/politics/2104

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-17 | 6.1 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Phil Tripp)
Newsgroups: co.politics
Subject: Re: Colorado Amendment 2
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 16 Nov 92 18:48:07 GMT
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Organization: University of Denver, Denver, Colorado
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In my original post on the Amendment 2 controversy, I stated
that I did not view it's passage as a "hate thing." I still
stand by that statement, even as I watch this whole mess
degenerating quickly into a definite hate thing.  What I see now
is bigotry on both sides of this issue, people choosing sides,
getting ready for battle.  Colorado has been called a
battleground.  Violence, literal and figurative, seems to be our
cultural (Amercian) answer to practically everything.  We've got
the War on Drugs, we had the War on Poverty (we really won that
one, HA!), and now it looks like we want a War on Hate.  Hey,
time out! As Ken Kesey once said at an anti-Vietnam War rally,
"That's what they do," meaning mobilize, march, rally, etc.

A war against hate, the very idea is absurd.  If we want, or
should have, laws against "bad, evil things," why, for crying
out loud, don't we have a law against war?

Ok, my ulterior motive for this post: peaceful, non-violent,
negotiated, inclusive, intelligent resolution of this problem.
If we are all so damned politcally correct and open minded, why
can't we accept even those "right-wing, fundamentalists,
rednecks, bigots, etc." as human beings too?  Ok, I know it's a
tough one, but we have to do it if we want to truely be tolerant
and open-minded.

Next point, before I get reduced to a sound bite by the net or
within any individual reader's mind, let me do it for you.  Here
is a list of things I am for and against.  The "things" on the
left, I am for; those on the right, I am against.

    For/Against
    Freedom/Oppression
    Freedom/Censorship
    Freedom/Government Intrusion
    Freedom/Obession with being politically correct
    Peace/War
    Peace/Violence
    Love/Hate
    Acceptance/Intolerance
    Choice/Abortion
    Clean Environment/Polluted Planet

I am against discrimination in its current, politically-correct
definition.  Yet, being human means to discriminate in the sense
of choosing between.  We start this early in life when we
discriminate between our mother and other people.  We know what
our mother smells like, feels like, looks like, and we
discriminate against others.  (I don't mean to exclude fathers
here.) As our world opens and we grow, we begin to have friends
and develop relationships with other people.  But all through
life we discriminate for certain people and against others in
our personal world.

I treat each person as an individual, not as a member of some
group/tribe.  Whatever internal logic leads me to like or
respect someone is never based on any categorization of the
person into any group.  Although I'm not sure, it seems to be
based on small human things, like how and when someone smiles or
laughs or the tone of their voice or how they treat other
people.  No matter in what "group" or "category" (such as gay)
other people may place someone, it matters very, very little, if
at all, to me.    Hopefully, I am not some freak, and I share this
trait with many, if not all, other humans, including many people
who call Colorado home.

Amendment 2 is a very flawed piece of legislation.  Its passage
could mean many things.  It may mean we don't want the
government to be our mommy, we want to deal with our problems on
the playground of life in our own personal, human ways.  Even
though I can legally buy a pint of Jack Daniels and get stupid,
doesn't mean I will.  Just because I can legally buy a gun and
kill a threatening burgular, doesn't mean I will.  Yet it is
good to know I am making these decisions on my own without the
government parent figure telling me how to think.  Just because
I can discriminate against a homosexual, doesn't mean I or
anyone else will.  In fact, knowing myself, I would not
discriminate against someone based solely on their having a
certain sexual orientation.

My personal thoughts about homosexuality -- to me, the natural,
biological sexual orientation is heterosexual.    I come to this
conclusion on my own; it is not based on any religious belief. I
also believe in wearing natural fiber clothes.    The wearing of
fabric made from two different fibers is ok as long as it is
natural (for example, not polyester), although I like the idea
of something being pure, like 100% cotton.

There is a difference between the gay "minority" and other
minorities.  There are black children, there are Jewish, Muslim,
Christian children, there are female children, etc.  There are
no homosexual children.  (Did I just hear a few flame throwers
light up?)  Sexual orientation happens later in life, my personal
theory.  By children, I mean pre-adolescent.

My thoughts on the suicide being blamed on the passage of
Amendment 2 -- this is a very sad tragedy.  I empathize with the
family and friends and your need to blame something
to take your deeply felt frustration and anger.  Yet, even if
this tradegy can be laid at the foot of Amendment 2, and it
probably can in a certain sense, it has no bearing on the issue.
Imagine a reverse scenario, one in which a young person took his
life after the failure of Amendment 2, blaming its defeat for
his suicide.

Do laws really change people?  Or do people change, then laws
are passed to reflect the change?  Do Afro-americans now have
more civil rights than before civil rights laws? If they do, is
it due to the laws or to the change in people and our culture?
Do the laws merely indicate the reality existing at any given
time?

I still maintain this is a complex issue (Amendment 2) and
cannot be sound bitten into yes/no junks.  And whatever happens,
please, people, let's not start choosing up sides and begin a
war. Let's not build a wall of hate.


--
Phil Tripp, Computing and Information Resources, U of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
[e-mail]