The Crux of the Problem

The restricted marriage amendment squeaked through the Arizona statehouse yesterday, partly (how large a part? I won't hazard a guess) on skids greased by this kind of thinking.

Also supporting the move was Rep. Marian McClure, a Tucson Republican, who said she thought a constitutional amendment was unnecessary because same-sex marriage already is banned by state statute. But ultimately she voted for sending it to the ballot because of her personal religious beliefs.

"If I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, how do I go into church next Sunday and try to explain to my pastor and to my Christian community that I voted saying that marriage was not between a man and a woman?" she said.

And with that, the measure trots off to the November ballot, keeping the hope alive that all Arizonans will be compelled to live in accordance with Marian McClure's personal religious beliefs. People who share those beliefs won't notice, and, when they vote to carve them into the state constitution, likely won't think about it all except possibly for a moment's delicious frisson of knowing their vote paves one more step on their road to heaven. People who don't share her beliefs but have lives that conveniently match up with the outward appearance of her vision of What Marriage Is won't be materially affected. And if an issue doesn't directly impact people, they tend to not actively participate in changing it.

Proponents of the amendment claim that "Arizonans deserve the opportunity to vote on the definition of marriage,"(Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler), and that whatever definition they come up with (presumably as long as it goes along the lines of no gays ever) must be made permanent in the constitution now to prevent the ever-convenient activist judge bogeyman from ruling the existing statute unconstitutional in some undefined future. If Mr. Yarbrough and Mrs. McClure have any concerns about regular Arizona citizens in that future time being annoyed at finding their hands tied by their idiot ancestors, requiring them to go through the amendment process again to undo the travesty perpetrated in 2008, they have kept them well hidden.

I wish I believed in Jesus. Because I would pray for him to come back and personally slap each and every one of these homo-obsessed shitbags upside their sanctimonious heads for paying more attention to passages from the Old Testament and the rantings of Paul than to the admonishments from Jesus himself to love, to give a hand to those in need, and to treat others as you'd like to be treated yourself.