The Gay Marriage Conversation

I am fascinated by the gay marriage conversation. I don’t care where you land on the issue. I’m really not interested in the positions that people hold. I’m pretty sure I can guess where just about everyone lands. What is really interesting, what is really fascinating, is the nature of the conversation itself.

Today on the radio the sports station was discussing Caitlyn Jenner receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the Espys tomorrow night. It highlighted again, for me, how interesting the nature of this conversation really is.

No matter where one lands on the issue, they are passionate about their position. Their position comes from God or comes from humanity or comes from love, and it is RIGHT.

I have good friends that land on both sides of the issue. We’ve talked about it at Doubt on Tap and even there, the same question rose in my mind. That is, is it OK for people to hold different positions? Is it OK for someone to think that gay marriage is right? Is it OK for someone to think that gay marriage is wrong? Or, does everyone have to agree and the other position has no right to disagree?

Can a business person have personal beliefs, one way or the other? Are they allowed to hold a position that differs from the mainstream even if they choose to serve everyone regardless of the customer’s belief? Were they ever allowed to?

My mom used to say to my brother’s and I, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” Is it in this case?

For instance, Charlie Hedbo openly mocked Muhammad and was blown up. The magazine was heralded as heroic for its anti-Islamic “humor.” What if Charlie Hedbo had been openly mocking Bruce Jenner’s transformation to Caitlyn Jenner? Would they still be heroic? When Neil Degrasse Tyson mocks Christians it’s OK. But when a Christian mocks him it’s usually considered bad form. Why?

The nature of the conversation is so very interesting. Have we come full circle in culture where we now have begun to embrace absolute rights and wrongs? Are non-religious and religious people both allowed to have a position and have their position heard in the public square with open minds?

This conversation is one of many. The title of this post could have been “The Race Conversation: Baltimore” or “The Creation Conversation” or “The Abortion Conversation.”

After hosting Doubt on Tap conversations for almost two years it is the nature of conversation about the tough issues that interests me even more than the content of the conversation.

The post The Gay Marriage Conversation appeared first on The Journal by Daniel M. Rose. It was written by Daniel M. Rose.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1HIJNSp
via IFTTT