That Rare And Different Post

 My buddy and I on our hot anniversary date:

I had to move over to his side of the table because the people behind me were having a pretty riotous time and it was shaking me and my bench in a very exuberant fashion. He was a true gentlemen and invited me over to sit shoulder to shoulder. Ah... love. 

Are you ever afraid you're not funny anymore? Does that fear afflict anyone?

Anyone... anyone?

I think I can still hold my own in conversation, but when I read my writing there is no sparkley-sparkle. Is it because my thoughts are usually serious? Is it just that I want an outlet? Is it because I'm 30? I don't know. I do have some pretty peppy posts back in the arsenals. You can hang out there for awhile if you're sick of Marie of Lesser-Excitement. Which is sort of funny, because we are always on our toes these days. Life-wise, there is lots of excitement! It's just more the "My brain! My brain is exploding!" kind of excitement. Which, don't get me wrong, brain explosions have a place in this world (I am pretty sure).

Isn't he cute?

There was the most beautiful sunset tonight. Orange and gold, sparkling high over storm clouds. Lovely. I went and stood on the rain-soaked deck with KJ and Olivia, watching the light adjust and one plane full of lucky passengers ascend into the sky from the distant airport. It was very peaceful.

 

Let's discuss the recent Supreme Court rulings, because I've been reading, reading, reading, and thinking, thinking, thinking.

A) I am a student of history, and I have a particular passion for U.S. history and government. I have spent many hours totally absorbed in the system. I love it. I think it is brilliant, an absolutely brilliant work, formed by brilliant and inspired minds. I am so thankful to live in a land built upon moral principles. I am concerned, like a lot of people, about things happening in our government right now. (I have to clear up, because I'm Marie, I do not affiliate with a political party, and don't anticipate ever doing so. The Double B does, and that's okay. But I don't.) I am concerned about an incredibly powerful government agency like the IRS persecuting and targeting it's citizens. I am concerned about the far-reaching scope of the privacy invasions that appear to have no limits. And I have been alarmed for some time, as a student of the system, about the broad reach of the judicial branch in recent years. There seems to be no one to check them. AND THEY ARE MEANT TO BE CHECKED. Like an executive branch that has been over-reaching, they are meant to be checked. Why aren't they being checked? Who will check them? Who?

When the people speak, they speak. Only the people can strike that down, through the democratic process. Not, in my opinion, the president, not congress, and not the highest court in the land. And to say that the voice of the people has no leg to stand on is...

B) I respect the feelings and beliefs of others. I may not agree, but I honor their right to feel the way they feel and stand up for what they feel they must stand for. But I crave the right to have the same courtesy offered to me, and to those who feel differently then the current Goliath. I am not gay. I can not imagine feeling the hurt that many gay people have had to feel because of the way they are sometimes treated. I have seen terrible things said and done on both sides of the fence, and it is gut-wrenching. I know and love many people of that sexual orientation, like pretty much everyone. I can honestly say for myself and my feelings -- who cares? I don't care if you're gay! Be gay, you have that right. I will love you and treat you kindly, just like I know you will do for me! I will respect your feelings. It doesn't matter to our friendship or co-earth-habitant-ed-ness that we feel differently, because we can respect one another! And like I know those friends are gay, they know I am a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or "Mormon," and that I do believe in traditional marriage, and I do believe that children have a right to have a Mom and a Dad. So that can be complicated. But you know what? It's never, ever been an issue for my gay friends and I. Because we love each other. Because we respect each other. Because we see each other's hearts. So who cares about such a personal choice.

I am noticing a trend. I am alarmed by the voracity and often-times viciousness of the gay-rights movement. They are forgetting one critical thing: they believe that way. They absolutely have that right. But they MUST allow other people to feel differently. It appears to me that there is a desire to absolutely bull-doze the other side. The way it appears is that in their desire to have rights, they would steal mine. Like my feelings are not valid because they are not yours. That you can call me names to get me to change my mind. That you can bully me into silence and submission. But that is WRONG. It is as wrong for you to do that to me as it would be WRONG for me to do that to you. I am personally committed to honoring your voice. But I am personally committed to honoring mine. For me, this is right. For me, marriage is between a man and a woman. You can pick a different name, because it's a different thing. For me, children should have a Mom and a Dad. That is the ideal. Do I believe you are somehow less capable of love? OF COURSE NOT. Do I believe you are second-class citizens in any way? OF COURSE NOT. But I must have the freedom to stand for what I believe is right, even if it is not what you believe.

 

Honestly, I know a political post is out of the norm for me. I worry a lot about the feelings of others. But it was something building inside of me, that in this issue, in this small way, I have to let the world know that I will stand my ground. 

 

Let's love one another. Let's be kind to one another. Let's respect one another and respect our differences.

Let's not allow the fact that we have differences be something we have to be afraid of. 

I say that to my heart and to yours.