A bad thing happened tonight and I am so frustrated that this is what I'll end up blogging about for my return to the blog! (I had really hoped for something better...)
I went to the Art Walk which is one of the big kick-off events for our local festival. Every year, artists from town (and often imported artists, like from Cincinnati or someplace really "arty" like that) bring their work to display in our downtown businesses. Banks, restaurants, civic buildings, stores -- everyone opens up from 6-10 p.m., with many locations serving free refreshments, and folks just wander from place to place enjoying the art, meeting friends, maybe sharing a view of something really new and fabulous. At the bandstand/gazebo right in the middle of downtown, food vendors are assembled, the street is blocked off and a band plays music while people of all ages dance and eat and enjoy the breeze of a beautiful July evening. It's a special time and ought to be a real expression of who we are as a community.
In so many ways, it's an opportunity to showcase the best our town has to offer, so when I stumbled upon a group of people excitedly signing a stack of petitions I immediately thought it must be something really great. (I'd come from the back and thus missed the bright blue sign with 18 inch high letters stating their cause). I thought -- okay, it's about library funding, it's about making our schools even better, it's about improving out playground equipment... So I walked up, kids in the stroller to see what was happening.
Imagine my dismay -- okay, you know me, imagine my immediate rage -- when I did finally see the sign. BAN GAY MARRIAGE! And the guy hands me a clipboard and says, "Are you a registered voter?" As if I'm gonna sign this piece of garbage... As if EVERYONE would naturally sign this piece of garbage. "Would you like to sign?"
I'm ashamed of myself for not finding a more articulate response. I really am. I could have done better than "No, because I think it's bull-shit. I think it's about keeping people from having equal rights." The guy with the petition seemed disappointed too, because his eyes kinda glazed over. I guess maybe he hears that a lot so he just looked past me to the next person in line -- yes, folks were lining up to sign this crap. I think maybe if I'd been more original, I might have held his attention for 30 or 40 seconds longer.
Luckily I ran into my friend Jodi almost immediately after this exchange because I was SEETHING and needed to yell at somebody whose eyes could still focus. She was very sympathetic (thanks again for that, Jodi!) and while we decided it would be fun to see if Sarah's head would explode when she saw the guys, we also agreed that it was disappointing to have to deal with the whole mess in the middle of what should have been an enjoyable evening.
When Sarah and I went back to confront the petition floggers (in case you are worrying, her head did not in fact explode and we were both much more articulate in our subsequent conversations with the petition dudes), we asked the one guy why he cared one way or the other. (also, this was not the guy I had already cussed at, I figured he might still be glazed over) "Because it's in the Bible, that's why" he responded indignantly.
He was clearly ready with that answer. He was somewhat less prepared when I pointed out that the Bible is pretty okay with slavery, and also was he planning to marry his brother's wife in the event that his brother died, because that was in the Bible too. He just looked at me blankly. I explained that Leviticus was a very interesting chapter and inquired whether he had actually, in fact, READ the Bible. He had the grace to look vaguely sheepish (with my apologies to sheep) and admitted it had been a while. This did not, of course, prevent him from continuing to offer his fabulous petition to the eager crowds waiting to sign up. Sarah and I hassled some of them for a while, but then it just got frustrating and I remembered Bill was watching my kids along with his own so we wandered off and just hassled our friends instead. We are both writing letters to the paper though, and if we hadn't had the kids (and at least one mother-in-law) along, we would have grabbed some pizza boxes from the trash pile and made up quick signs to hold up saying stuff like "We're not all like them" (Sarah's idea) and "Welcome to Lancaster, we're really narrow-minded!" (my intended sign). [I found out later that a group of high school women waged a mini counter-protest by making out ferociously right in front of the petition guys. I only wish I'd been there to cheer them on. Go Tori and company!]
Sitting there I was also frustrated that I couldn't cite chapter and verse to counter the "It's in the Bible" lame-assed answer I'd gotten. Surely I can do better than that! So I did some research when I got home and here's some other stuff that's commanded on the SAME PAGE as the the man with a man is an abomination stuff [by the way, I can't seem to find anything that opposes lesbianism in the Bible, so maybe those amendment people should re-think their petitions...]
Leviticus 19:27 - You shall not round off your hair from side to side and you shall not shave the edge of your beards. You shall not gash yourselves in mourning for the dead; you shall not tattoo yourselves.
The guy with the stack of petitions is is big trouble on at least two counts already, because he was tattooed and had a haircut AND had shaved his whole freakin' beard off. (I'm pretty sure he was also wearing garments woven with two kinds of yarn, which is prohibited in Lev. 19:19)
But where he (and others like him) are going to get in BIG trouble is their pretty obvious violation of Leviticus 19:17: "You shall not nurse hatred against your brother." and verse 18: "you shall not seek revenge or cherish anger against your kinsfolk; you shall love your neighbor as a man like yourself."
Because really, couldn't we find some more important things to worry enough to petition over? I can make you a really long list if you like... Ugh. I am so disappointed in my TOWN!!
Here's my letter to the editor: (we'll see if they print it...)
To the Editor:
This week marks the 20th anniversary of our Lancaster Festival. It's a special time: a true expression of who we are as a community. Friday night’s Art Walk is a unique opportunity to showcase the best our town can offer. So when I stumbled on a group of people excitedly signing petitions I thought it must be something great. (I wandered up from behind and missed the huge sign stating the petitioners’cause). In the Festival spirit of sharing our best, of coming together to celebrate what makes our town terrific, I assumed the petition would be something to make Lancaster even better. So up I walked, kids in the stroller, to see what was happening.
I was shocked to read the sign: Ban Gay Marriage? Not a collection to create a fantastic new playground at Rising Park, not a petition to demand more library funding from the state -- not a cause, in short, that does anything to bring us together as a community. Nope, in this evening of sharing our best, we chose instead to spread a message of hate. By lining up to sign that petition, we show that some folks just aren’t welcome here. Indeed, a good portion of our town stepped up eagerly to assert that some folks don’t deserve the same set of rights as everybody else. And suddenly the Art Walk was tarnished for me.
Because while I will stand up enthusiastically for the petitioners’ right to gather signatures for whatever cause they choose, I am disappointed that the corner of Broad Street and Main, in the middle of the Festival is where they thought it was appropriate to do so. Our town can do better, and I am ashamed.