today i got a yes on 8 mailer. and i'm still pissed about it. i can't really write logically about it right now because i'm too damn angry. but:
for anyone interested in helping stop prop 8:
1. donate: your money puts ads on the air. the mormon church has pumped millions of dollars into the yes campaign, and turned public opinion from 38% in favor/55% opposed in mid-september to a majority in favor today. donations are being matched dollar for dollar until midnight tonight (10/31.)
2. call voters: the yes on 8 campaign mobilized thousands of people (many from out of state) to call and knock on doors, spreading lies about prop 8. you can sign up online to call people, either at a phone bank or from your own home. for calling from home, they use a fancy calling system that means that your number doesn't show up on people's caller id, and you pay no long distance fees. i've been doing it, and although it makes me nervous, i am proud to be a part of this effort.
3. talk to your friends and family about prop 8: i've definitely got friends who support/considered supporting/used to support prop 8. there are still people who haven't really heard about prop 8, since there's so much noise about this election. others have only heard from the yes on prop 8 people, and may be convinced that without prop 8, all elementary school classes will be replaced with mandatory, non-age appropriate sex ed. (for the record, parents have always, and will always have opt-out rights in the state of california...remember those permission slips you had to return before awkward sixth grade sex ed time? still the law.)
i talked to both of my parents about it. my mom donated, and my dad's thinking about it.
for more information: http://www.noonprop8.com
Dust Motes
1 week ago
3 comments:
+1.
Now a moral/ethical question: I had noticed some "Yes on Prop 8" signs around town posted on public land (like near highway entrances & at big box store parking lots). I got kind of peeved, so the next day I woke up before the sun, & under the cover of darkness I took them down & threw them away.
So, on the one hand it could be considered stealing (although I doubt the people were going to come back after the election to reclaim the signs) & I'm intruding on someone else's freedom of speech.
On the other hand, I think that people should vote no on prop 8 & I want to tell myself that by taking the signs down (they were on public property), I was exercising my rights.
What say you?
i wrote a long, philosophical response, but then Blogger ate it and i'm f-ing tired.
so, in a nutshell: taking the sign probably wasn't illegal, but i'd call it unethical. then i got utilitarian about it: which situation results in a lower net yield of d-baggery? the prop 8 sign staying up, or the removal of said sign?
for my part, prop 8 is fucked up. just replace the word "homosexual" with "interracial" and you'll see why* (see below.)
so essentially, you shouldn't have taken that sign but on the other hand, prop 8 is institutionalized discrimination. i would have done the same in your position.
*for many, it comes down to the belief that homosexuality is something that can be "fixed." until i see scientifically rigorous proof of that, it's something i would ever debate, let alone entertain.
it was actually illegal. so, um, hypothetically speaking, if you were to have taken some yes on 8 signs, this is what i would have thought about it.
1. had i put up no on 8 signs, i would have been really upset to know that someone stole them and threw them away.
2. i don't think i've felt this strongly about a political issue in my entire life. when i read your post (hypothetically), my heart sang. hypothetically.
i am totally with brother bear. it was wrong, and i'm really glad you did it.
please come visit soon i want to give you a high five.
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