[StBernard] If Democracy Doesn't Work, Try Anarchy

[Westley Annis]

If Democracy Doesn't Work, Try Anarchy 
by Chuck Norris (more by this author)
Posted 11/18/2008 ET




Protestors of Proposition 8 in California (the marriage amendment) shoved
aside a 69-year-old woman who was bearing a cross. They reportedly spit on
her and stomped on her cross. They then aligned themselves in a human
barricade, blocking the media from getting to or interviewing the woman.
    
Prop. 8 supporter Jose Nunez, 37, was assaulted brutally while distributing
yard signs to other supporters after church services at the St. Stanislaus
Parish in Modesto.
    
Calvary Chapel Chino Hills was spray painted by vandals after they learned
that the church served as an official collection point for Prop. 8
petitions.
    
Letters containing white powder (obviously mimicking anthrax) were sent to
the Salt Lake City headquarters of the Mormon church and to a temple in Los
Angeles. (Thankfully, the FBI said the substance was nontoxic.)
    
The 25-year artistic director of the California Musical Theatre, who also
happens to be a Mormon, was muscled to resign because of his $1,000 donation
to the campaign to ban gay marriage in California.
    
A pro-homosexual, pro-anarchy organization named Bash Back marched into the
middle of a church service and flung fliers and condoms to the congregants.
They also hung a banner from the balcony that featured two lesbians in
provocative positions at the pulpit.
    
And lastly, the tolerance-preaching activists also have taken their anger to
the blogosphere, where posts have planted ideas ranging from burning
churches to storming the citadels of government until our society is forced
to overturn Prop. 8. You even can find donor blacklists online. The lists
include everyone who financially backed Prop. 8 -- even those who gave as
little as $46 -- with the obvious objective that these individuals will be
bantered and boycotted for doing so.
    
What's wrong with this picture? Lots.
    
First, there's the obvious inability of the minority to accept the will of
the majority. Californians have spoken twice, through the elections in 2000
and 2008. Nearly every county across the state (including Los Angeles
County) voted to amend the state constitution in favor of traditional
marriage.
   
 Nevertheless, bitter activists simply cannot accept the outcome as being
truly reflective of the general public. So they have placed the brainwashing
blame upon the crusading and misleading zealotry of those religious
villains: the Catholics, evangelical Protestants, and especially Mormons,
who allegedly are robbing the rights of American citizens by merely
executing their right to vote and standing upon their moral convictions and
traditional views.
    
What's surprising (or maybe not so) is that even though 70 percent of
African-Americans voted in favor of Proposition 8, protests against black
churches are virtually nonexistent. And everyone knows exactly why: Such
actions would be viewed as racist. Yet these opponents of Prop. 8 can
protest vehemently and shout obscenities in front of Mormon temples without
ever being accused of religious bigotry. There's a clear double standard in
our society. Where are the hate-crime cops when religious conservatives need
them?
    
There were many of us who passionately opposed Obama, but you don't see us
protesting in the streets or crying "unfair." Rather, we are submitting to a
democratic process and now asking how we can support "our" president. Just
because we don't like the election outcome doesn't give us the right to
bully those who oppose us. In other words, if democracy doesn't tip our
direction, we don't swing to anarchy. That would be like the Wild West, the
resurrection of which seems to be happening in these postelection protests.
    
I agree with Prison Fellowship's founder, Chuck Colson, who wrote: "This is
an outrage. What hypocrisy from those who spend all of their time preaching
tolerance to the rest of us! How dare they threaten and attack political
opponents? We live in a democratic country, not a banana republic ruled by
thugs."
    
Regardless of one's opinion of Proposition 8, it is flat-out wrong and
un-American to intimidate and harass individuals, churches and businesses
that are guilty of nothing more than participating in the democratic
process. Political protests are one thing, but when old-fashioned bullying
techniques are used that restrict voting liberties and even prompt fear of
safety, activists have crossed a line. There is a difference between
respectfully advocating one's civil rights and demanding public endorsement
of what many still consider to be unnatural sexual behavior through cruel
coercion and repression tactics. One thing is for sure: The days of peaceful
marches, such as those headed up by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seem to be
long gone.
    
The truth is that the great majority of Prop. 8 advocates are not bigots or
hatemongers. They are American citizens who are following 5,000 years of
human history and the belief of every major people and religion: Marriage is
a sacred union between a man and a woman. Their pro-Prop. 8 votes weren't
intended to deprive any group of its rights; they were safeguarding their
honest convictions regarding the boundaries of marriage.
    
On Nov. 4, the pro-gay community obviously was flabbergasted that a state
that generally leans left actually voted right when it came to holy
matrimony. But that's exactly what happened; the majority of Californians --
red, yellow, black and white -- voted to define the margins of marriage as
being between one man and one woman. California is the 30th state in our
union to amend its constitution in doing so, joining Florida and Arizona in
this election. 

Like it or not, it's the law now. The people have spoken.