Martin Luther King, Jr., had a dream. A commendable dream; a dream that has not only been realized, but has radically changed the course of history in its fulfillment. And now, almost 46 years later, Martin Luther King, champion of civil rights, speaks to marriage defenders from the grave to reiterate that dream in a different context. Gay “marriage” is not a civil right. A country that makes special concessions for sexual attractions and orientations is a country consciously heading for troubled waters, not freedom and justice. Says Shelby Steele of the Wall Street Journal in his essay entitled, Selma to San Francisco?:
“Dressing gay marriage in a suit of civil rights has become the standard way of selling it to the broader public. Here is an extremely awkward issue having to do with the compatibility of homosexuality and the institution of marriage. But once this issue is buttoned into a suit of civil rights, neither homosexuality nor marriage need be discussed. Suddenly only equity and fairness matter. And this turns gay marriage into an ersatz civil rights struggle so that dissenters are seen as Neanderthals standing in the schoolhouse door, fighting off equality itself. Yet all this civil rights camouflage is, finally, a bait-and-switch: When you agree to support fairness, you end up supporting gay marriage.”
“But gay marriage is simply not a civil rights issue. It is not a struggle for freedom. It is a struggle of already free people for complete social acceptance and the sense of normalcy that follows thereof--a struggle for the eradication of the homosexual stigma. Marriage is a goal because, once open to gays, it would establish the fundamental innocuousness of homosexuality itself. Marriage can say like nothing else that sexual orientation is an utterly neutral human characteristic, like eye-color. Thus, it can go far in diffusing the homosexual stigma.”
…
“The civil rights movement argued that it was precisely the utter innocuousness of racial difference that made segregation an injustice. Racism was evil because it projected a profound difference where there was none -- white supremacy, black inferiority -- for the sole purpose of exploiting blacks. But there is a profound difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality. In the former, sexual and romantic desire is focused on the same sex, in the latter on the opposite sex. Natural procreation is possible only for heterosexuals, a fact of nature that obligates their sexuality to no less a responsibility than the perpetuation of the species. Unlike racial difference, these two sexual orientations are profoundly--not innocuously--different. Racism projects a false difference in order to exploit. Homophobia is a reactive prejudice against a true and firm difference that already exists.” [emphasis added]
I HAVE A DREAM, 2009 Edition
by Martin Luther King, Jr.
special edits by Pearl Diver
“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
[And I have a dream that one day the people of this nation will recognize that being created equal means that all men are indeed equal, not that all lifestyles merit equal recognition and concession.]
I have a dream that one day on the [green hills of California] the sons of [homosexuals] and the sons of [heterosexuals] will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood [rather than spew hateful “dreams” such as this one at their siblings].
I have a dream that one day even the state of [Massachusetts], a state sweltering with the heat of [injustice against religion], sweltering with the heat of [oppression of parental rights], will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by [their traditional sexual orientation] but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in [San Francisco], with its vicious [gay “rights” activists], with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of [recalcitrance] and [repeal]; one day right there in [San Francisco], little boys and girls will be able to join hands [and frolic in innocence and purity rather than ponder heavily on the fragile nature of their future society].
[I have a dream that this unity of the people will be based on their divine inheritance as children of God rather than their sexual preferences and attractions.]
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
[I have a dream that bedroom preferences and practices will return to the bedroom rather than demand and create public policy and legislation.]
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the [California] with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together [ahem, Prop 8], knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
[This will be the day when selfish sexual pursuits are set aside for the greater good of country, liberty, and freedom.]
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
[Yes, please!]
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, [note the very distinct absence of sexual orientation] will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"”
Wishing you a happy, healthy Martin Luther King day.
Yours in Freedom and Justice,
~Pearl
Related Links:
Five Levels of Identity
Same-Sex Marriage is Not a Civil Right
Is Same-Sex Marriage a Civil Rights Issue?
Same-Sex Marriage vs. Civil Rights
2009: ‘Gay’ Rights Over All
Is There a Natural Right to Same-Sex Marriage?
11 Comments:
I'm impressed that nearly an entire nation can be bamboozled into believing that same sex marriage is about civil rights. It's not about civil rights, but about immorality and indecency.
thank you pearl. this speech has been haunting me all day-- i have dream too--one where sexual orientation is not a tyrant, one where all children have a mom and a dad married.
"...one where sexual orientation is not a tyrant..."
That's a good dream, Pomegranate Apple.
Euripides,
It is pretty amazing. But then, if people hear something enough, they become desensitized and no longer question or ponder. The act of homosexual sex used to be extremely taboo. Now, thanks to media and especially Hollywood, it's been accepted by progressives with open arms. Shows like Will and Grace taught viewers that homosexuality was funny and tender, completely ignoring the baser, more disgusting characteristics of the lifestyle. I honestly don't think people know what they're getting into by failing to question the vehemence with which gay "rights" activists push their agenda.
“But gay marriage is simply not a civil rights issue. It is not a struggle for freedom. It is a struggle of already free people for complete social acceptance"
Great point! The gay left ought to be ashamed of themselves for even thinking they can compare themselves to the "real" civil rights struggle.
Thanks for posting the speech! Great history there!
Shelby Steele is a he, not a she. (Shelby is one of those unisex names. Research.)
Paste the link below, and you can see a picture of Mr. Steele. He looks a bit like James Earl Jones.
blacksnob.blogspot.com/2008/04/shelby-steele-thinks-obama-is-gamble.html
Thanks, PersonalFailure.
By creating a right "gay marriage", it tramples on other rights. The right to say that homosexual sex is a disorder. The right for companies to refuse services to same sex couples.
By creating a right "gay marriage", it tramples on other rights. The right to say that homosexual sex is a disorder.
Absolutely false. Lay off the phony martyrdom.
The right for companies to refuse services to same sex couples.
And why should companies "refuse services" to same sex couples in the first place?
Example,
A photographic company is asked to take photos of a "gay wedding". The company owner doesn't want to do the job because he/she knows that homosexual sex is disordered. By taking on the job, that person supports the "gay wedding" through their actions.
I find it difficult to digest the argument that only heterosexuals can procreate. And that being gay is against the law of nature.
Yes gays cannot give birth but there are 6 billion people in this world ... millions and millions of kids all around the world ... impoverished kids and hungry kids and parent less kids who could use loving fathers and mothers.
Are we then to argue that women who cannot give birth are nature's abomination? That they have lesser rights?
Yes, gay marriage is about removing stigma. It is about civil rights. It is about that fundamental belief that we cannot discriminate anybody on anything. And that includes your ability to procreate or not.
Sourabh
Sourabh,
As difficult as it is for you to stomach this, the truth is that only heterosexuals can naturally procreate and homosexuality is abnormal in nature.
I agree that there are millions of children throughout the world who would benefit from a loving mother and father, but adopting and embracing homosexuality is not the brightest solution since it denies children the important presence of an opposite-sex parent by design. And research has proved, time and again, the importance of a child being raised by a married mother and father.
Women who are infertile are not nature's abomination and they do not have lesser rights. Frankly, I'm not sure how you arrived at that conclusion based on this post. You are lumping Lesbians together with married infertile women and the glaring lack of the former is still found in the desire to deny a father.
"Yes, gay marriage is about removing stigma."
Ah, and here you've hit the nail on the head. We don't create laws and legislation to accommodate hurt feelings due to stigmas. If this is the case and this is your argument, then certainly the stigmatized polygamous culture should have their right to marry whomever they will? I trust you would also support pedophiles in their desire to marry children and siblings to marry each other? After all, you did say that "we cannot discriminate anybody on anything."
That is a dangerous path to walk.
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