Jackson Free Press

At times, this country is a model for intolerance. Our compassion is thrown to the wind, and our grand ignorance is on display for all to see.

Gay marriage--gasp!--is the thing that's going to destroy the fabric of America ... this week. Some are up in arms over other human beings' desires to be treated fairly under the law. Some scoff at the notion that LGBT people are regular citizens, and that they, like you and me, simply want the right to have their proclamations of love recognized by the law. They want the same benefits that my wife and I are entitled to. Seems simple enough.

Let's put all the cards on the table, shall we? I'm a Christian; that isn't up for dispute. I'm no Bible scholar, though, and won't be able to match wits with folks who point to passages in the Bible that say being gay is "wrong," or that gay marriage will lead to the downfall of society as we know it.

I do know that over the years I've seen different people of different beliefs use the same book to justify all kinds of foolishness--including the Ku Klux Klan. So if the Klan has, perhaps, misinterpreted the Bible, who's to say that anti-gay marriage fanatics aren't doing the same?

Look, I'm just one guy--an African American male who has been discriminated against--who loathes attempts to stifle the lifestyles of others.

Folks once said that blacks being equal members of society would "destroy the fabric of America." Klansmen invoked God and rebuked black folk, "in the name of Jesus." Folks once said that blacks and whites getting married was an abomination. Folks invoked scripture to explain why that was wrong, too.

I'm not trying to quantify which civil-rights issue is more important. What I'm trying to say is that two people who love each other should be able to get married. Period. Not one thing--not one--about our day-to-day lives is going to change because two men or two women are joined in matrimony.

For the life of me, I can't understand why we care so much about the personal lives of others. You want to know what's destroying the fabric of America? Intolerance, prejudice and ignorance, in that order.

And that's the truth ... sho-nuff.