Right-Wing Christian Schizophrenia

Here in Florida there is a constitutional amendment on the ballot for November that would restrict those participating in the social and legal arrangement known as "marriage" to only genetic males and females. Same-gender attempts at the same socio-legal arrangement will not be permitted.

This is getting far less play in the media here in America's Soft Dangly Bits than a similar amendment is getting in California. Of course, same-gender marriage is legal in California following a court challenge to existing marriage laws, and a mixture of conservative and religious groups are pushing that state's Amendment #8 to ban same-gender marriage.

Some of them are howling that if the amendment is defeated and there is no ban put in place, Christians will become a persecuted minority and the jails and prisons will swell up with people arrested on account of their religion.

Okay.

For the record I am in favor of same-gender marriage for its social benefits (statistically, same-gender couples are every bit as capable as hetero couples at raising children in a stable and loving atmosphere, while most of the cases of child sexual and physical abuse appear to come from hetero families) as well as its economic advantages (taxes, incentives, amount of money put into the local economy, etc.). I think that allowing same-gender marriage here in Florida would be a boon. Imagine, if you will, the amount of money that will come into the state as people set up marriage ceremonies in Miami or at the House of Mouse.

But the title of this post dwells on the reaction of the Christian fundamentalists to the social progressivism and the changes in values in our society. This is put into a dandy nutshell consisting of two statements (hat tip to commenter Shaenon over at Pandagon):

a) America is a Christian nation, populated almost entirely by Christians, with non-Christians forming such a tiny minority that their beliefs and rights are unimportant.

b) Christians in America are a tiny, persecuted minority, constantly in danger of being imprisoned, deported, or fed to lions by the heathens who run the country and oppose them at every turn.

See what I mean? The fundamentalists are able to keep both positions in their heads, and both are clearly contradictory. It's prcatically paranoid schizophrenia.

Don't believe me? Watch Bill O'Reilly on Fox sometime when he's bellowing about a War on Christmas or a War on Christianity.

(Of course, O'Reilly's a fine one to talk about Christian virtues, seeing as Angela Makris got a lot of money from him for his sexual harassment of her.)

There's enough psychic elbow room in this country to allow homosexuals (who are a minority, although their real numbers may be far higher than supposed) to have the same civil right accorded to heterosexuals.

My recommendation on Florida's Gay Marriage Ban Amendment?

Vote No on November 4th.