Responding To Ignorance Part 2

clipart of Letters to the Editor

A recent post mentioned a letter to the editor, I read in my local paper, about the US Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling made this past summer. The letter was so wrong and fact free it made me respond with a letter of my own. To my surprise (not really) the author of the original letter responded to me. Again his letter is free of any facts.

I guess Mr. Berger (letter, Sept. 22) reads different news reports than I do because the only conservative viewpoint Associated Press ever writes is to prove a liberal viewpoint. Just the second paragraph of his letter concerning the AP convinced me that reading the rest of the letter would be a waste of time.

Poll figures are a waste of time. Anything can be proven or disproven depending on where they are taken or, in fact, if they were taken at all.

Votes were taken concerning same-sex marriage in over 20 states and they were overwhelmingly anti-gay marriage. Only two states voted in favor of it.

As I mentioned in my previous letter (Sept. 21), this is why the gay marriage activists went to the Supreme Court rather than Congress. Polls evidently convinced the Supreme Court.

Mr. Berger calls those of us who don’t believe in same-sex marriage bigots. We’ve had marriage in our country for nearly 250 years and now, by a one-vote opinion (5-4), we are bigots. Wow, another score for Mr. Berger.

He also calls those who, because of religious beliefs, refuse to serve those of same-sex marriage guilty of discrimination.

Does Mr. Berger realize that Muslims, as far as I know, are allowed to refuse to participate in anything that is not permitted by their religion? This is called religious freedom, but we as Christians are called bigots and guilty of discrimination.

Now businesses and individuals who refuse to accommodate same-sex activities are called bigots, guilty of discrimination and often forced to lose their businesses, fined, or even put in prison. Does this also apply to Muslims? I doubt it.

To conclude, we have seen nothing yet. Wait until Congress begins to write laws to accommodate the Supreme Court’s one-vote decision.

Ralph Anderson

We’ve Seen Nothing Yet

And here was my response that was published on September 30th:

There is no use in debating the so-called liberal bias in the media because it simply doesn’t exist, except in the extreme conservative fantasy world.

It still doesn’t invalidate the need to apply our constitutional rights equally to all.

If rights were subject to popular vote, then the Bill of Rights would mean nothing. Ralph Anderson (letter, Sept. 28) believes that polls are a waste of time. Polls done by reputable organizations like Gallup or the major news organizations gauge the opinions of the average American.

On one hand, Anderson wants us to accept his opinion of the Obergefell v. Hodges decision without question, yet dismisses the opinions of others because they don’t agree with his views. Reality doesn’t work like that. You can’t cherry-pick what facts you want to believe.

Looking at the trend line of opinions shows that more than a majority of people support same-sex marriage in 2015, unlike 10 years ago when conservatives got states to pass marriage bans.

Times change and so can people’s views on issues. Our laws should reflect that change and going to court to have the law reviewed should be an option.

I didn’t call people who don’t believe in same-sex marriage bigots. I specifically said (letter, Sept. 22) people and businesses who decide to discriminate against LGBT people are bigots.

I’m sure there are people who don’t like same-sex marriage and who aren’t bent on discriminating against the couples in some self-centered attempt to prevent people from marrying the people they love. It’s entirely up to Anderson which group he wants to be in.

Muslims, as well as people of other faiths, can ask for individual accommodations, but, if they own a business, they would be open to the same scrutiny as a cake baker who refuses to sell a cake to an LGBT couple or a county clerk who refuses to issue a marriage license.

I am not aware of any real examples of Muslim business owners discriminating against other religions or LGBT couples. The Obergefell v. Hodges decision invalidated laws already on the books that prevented LGBT couples from being married. Congress doesn’t need to write any new laws to enforce that decision.

Doug Berger

Media Bias Doesn’t Exist

This might be the last part of this series but something tells me Mr. Anderson isn’t one of those people who speaks their mind and moves on.