▪ keeping the civil rights struggle civil

Late last week it was reported that several churches here in California were vandalized. Some churches were spray painted with ‘no on prop 8’ slogans, while others were just vandalized. I would imagine some of this was just the work of vandals who were looking for an excuse for mischief, but no doubt some of it was by people angered by churches that want to force their brand of morality down the throats of the rest of us. In any case, it doesn’t promote the cause of civil rights for gay Californians.

We need to keep the civil rights fight civil. This kind of thing just gives the other side another reason to dismiss the rights and wishes of the gay community. We need to turn our anger and frustration into positive action. Sounds simple enough, but in the heat of the moment it can be difficult. Just reading through a few message boards this morning got my blood boiling; the stupidity, the hate, the ignorance… it gets to you. But, those aren’t the people we need to persuade—they will never be persuaded (the good news is that not that many people who need to be persuaded).

Anger and rage produces a great amount of emotional energy. Energy that can be redirected in very positive ways. We need to keep fighting, but through peaceful means lest we become our own worst enemy.