Signs and Symbols of proposition 8 on gay marriage
note: click the above link broderick fox photos to view the poster i refer to in the below essay
This is a powerful and moving poster indeed! But,does it move the message in a concilliatory direction or further polarize entrenched positions in the gay rights movement ? I think it polarizes. Full of anger, defiance, resolve, and solidarity, the poster is very "early 20'th century" iconography, and reminds of the ones where oppressed workers of the world unite in the face of overbearing oppression. Its message leaves little ambiguity indeed... But,what are we trying to acheive here if not some compassionate break witht the past. While the signs , symbols, and images for the gay liberation movement must suggest this anger as the driving initial impetus,it must also contain the symbol of an all encompassing understanding that the news anchor Keith Olbermann spoke of in his moving 11/10/08 comment on CNBC.
Perhaps a compassionate appreciation of the history of the institution of marriage, and the the fear that compels these long held religious definitions concerning what constitutes the legal and social bonds of love between couples, is what's needed here. FEAR of change and fear of moral breakdown is the driving element that tempers and fixes these values. Using another line from the book of Jesus: "Forgive them for they know not what they do."
Seems me that the highest form of love is a disinterested compassion that strives to understand the deeper origins of human failing in self and in "other" and thus can be loving towards those who are stuck in history... stuck still in all of our failings to accept the multitude of minority posiitions whether racial, sexual, gender preference, tribe, whatever. These people are not anything if they are not stuck in history. Dug in back along an ascending arc of human understanding.
.
We all come from this failing, we have passed this spot; and some of us have begun to move beyond it. If love remains throughout, the rest will come in time.It's just gonna happen. It's just a question of time, intensity, and endurance... and how many people peacefully join the movement. NO DOUBT THIS WILL BE OVERCOME
note: click the above link broderick fox photos to view the poster i refer to in the below essay
This is a powerful and moving poster indeed! But,does it move the message in a concilliatory direction or further polarize entrenched positions in the gay rights movement ? I think it polarizes. Full of anger, defiance, resolve, and solidarity, the poster is very "early 20'th century" iconography, and reminds of the ones where oppressed workers of the world unite in the face of overbearing oppression. Its message leaves little ambiguity indeed... But,what are we trying to acheive here if not some compassionate break witht the past. While the signs , symbols, and images for the gay liberation movement must suggest this anger as the driving initial impetus,it must also contain the symbol of an all encompassing understanding that the news anchor Keith Olbermann spoke of in his moving 11/10/08 comment on CNBC.
Perhaps a compassionate appreciation of the history of the institution of marriage, and the the fear that compels these long held religious definitions concerning what constitutes the legal and social bonds of love between couples, is what's needed here. FEAR of change and fear of moral breakdown is the driving element that tempers and fixes these values. Using another line from the book of Jesus: "Forgive them for they know not what they do."
Seems me that the highest form of love is a disinterested compassion that strives to understand the deeper origins of human failing in self and in "other" and thus can be loving towards those who are stuck in history... stuck still in all of our failings to accept the multitude of minority posiitions whether racial, sexual, gender preference, tribe, whatever. These people are not anything if they are not stuck in history. Dug in back along an ascending arc of human understanding.
.
We all come from this failing, we have passed this spot; and some of us have begun to move beyond it. If love remains throughout, the rest will come in time.It's just gonna happen. It's just a question of time, intensity, and endurance... and how many people peacefully join the movement. NO DOUBT THIS WILL BE OVERCOME
posted by dave warren at 7:25 PM
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