On Civil Rights and Rainy Days

First of all, it sucks to wake up to heavy rain and realize that you don't own an umbrella, then have to walk 7 blocks to the subway stop.

In other news, here's what I've noticed about the "liberal" vs. "conservative" policies on some issues (air quotes because of my disdain for those labels. There's nothing "liberal" about believing everyone should have rights, and nothing "conservative" about pandering to only the upper echelons of society):

There are two debates that boil down to the same core issue for me. The gay marriage controversy, which is "traditional" marriage (please note, "traditional" marriage was the woman went and had babies with whoever brought home the most meat) establishment claiming that giving gay people the right to marry destroys the sanctity of marriage. (there is another rant in here about interracial marriage, but I'll let that go). And then there's abortion, where the far right believes no one should have abortions and moderate people who actually have brains believe no one should have abortions except people to whom something horrible has happened (rape, etc) or something horrible will happen (death due to birth or pregnancy complications).

The problem with both of these debates is that with one side you're compromising someone's personal beliefs or personal moral code, and on the other side you're compromising someone's actual ability to do something. By outlawing gay marriage and abortion, people are actually restricting their opponents' actions. By allowing these things, people are merely offending other people. I had this argument with a girl at a political science program I attended in the summer of 2007 (forced by my mother, who's on the board, but I did learn a lot about the South which was cool), and although this girl is a really nice person and I got along with her well outside of this debate, it pretty much ended with her leaping across the circle of chairs at me screaming "MARRIAGE IS BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN!!!"

Here's my point: if you don't believe in abortion, don't get an abortion; if you don't believe in gay marriage, make sure you become part of a church community that does not perform same-sex marriages. But let people who want either (or both) of those things be. This is why supporters of abortion call themselves "pro-choice" -- they believe that someone has the right to CHOOSE what to do with their body. Like I said before, if you don't believe in abortion, no one is going to MAKE you get one. If gay marriage is outlawed, a gay person can't just switch churches until they find one that shares their beliefs. (I'm using "church" to represent any type of religious or community organization, it's just easy to use "church" since this debate tends to rage fiercest in Christian communities). Surround yourself with people who share your beliefs, but don't force them on everybody else.

I have many, many other issues surrounding these debates, but this one has just been on my mind today after reading an article about Sarah Palin and John McCain, and their ridiculous policies regarding women's "health" (quotes courtesy of John McCain, but also referring to how when discussing women's health with regards to McCain and Palin, it's not health you're discussing at all).

In completely unrelated news, as I was walking up the stairs to the literary area of the offices, I tripped and fell face down on the stairs. The stairs border a floor-to-ceiling, 2-story glass wall that forms one wall of the conference room. In which there was a conference with all the most important people from the theater. I was only a little humiliated. No wait, a whole lot. Especially since they actually looked up and made gestures to indicate "are you ok?" I gave them a thumbs up and slunk away, ashamed that the rain had gotten onto my shoes and allowed this to happen to me. :(

I might go to a book signing tonight, which could be interesting.