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| Russian Meteor Photo (2/16/2013) via Associated Press |
...No?
...The sky didn't fall down?
...Oh? That was last week?
Jokes aside, I really want to take my hat off and give TONS of kudos to the Center for Inquiry for taking this position (and even writing a position paper!).
I have personally gone on the record, multiple times, practically BEGGING godless organizations to partner with LGBT rights causes and initiatives... largely without success. I explain that the religious groups are doing it! In fact, religious groups have played both sides of most secular battles (and do NOT be deceived: Gay rights = A Secular Battle).
So, let me be among the first gaytheists to say THANK YOU, CFI!!!
In brief and in closing, it really shouldn't be such a big deal that CFI, an explicitly secular organization, has chosen to stand against this obviously discriminatory, religiously justified law. After all, they are fighting to support a(nother) group that has been oppressed by religion. If anything, this is an extension of their goals, not a diversion from it.
However, there are naysayers that believe the Secular Movement should ONLY focus on the explicit Separation of Church and State and see this kind of initiative as "mission creep." To those people, I ask:
How much time does it take to join an existing coalition?
How many CFI principles were compromised by drafting a position paper supporting LGBT equality?
How many donors or volunteers do you think were deterred when public, secular organizations give the same support to the LGBT that Secular Americans have long given privately?
This is great news! These efforts, combined with projects like Be Secular, Recovering from Religion and the Humanist Community Project are the beginning of a bigger, broader, and more socially relevant Secular Movement...
Upcoming Post: Equality is a Secular Value
2 comments:
I get it. All the discrimination against the gay/trans-gender community is Bible-based. As is the opposition to stem cell research, women's reproductive rights, and to Science in general. Creationism and Young Earth Theory (I laugh at these terms alone) are also religiously "justified." Social-justice issues are sometimes at the core of the resistance to organized religion and faith, and it's these matters that are turning people, especially young ones, away from religion in droves right now. That's what almost everyone we've interviewed for our documentary on The Clergy Project is telling us. The "mission creep" thing is a tricky one. It's probably easier to fight the good fight with a single focus, but these issues also broaden our base and are, ultimately, un-ignorable.
I agree completely. It's not just about defending LGBT rights either. In NC, I worked with the local secular community, the LGBT community and even churches in raising awareness about amendment one. One of the issues I came across was that many in the LGBT community are them-selves believers and feel they need to distance them-selves from the 'secular movement' because it has an even more negative impact on their reputation within the community if they align them-selves with non-believers. Have you had any similar experiences and if so how did you approach it?
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