Blogger Jaded JD has written an incredible post on why he is leaving left Virginia. The title, “It is well, it is well with my soul” is a reference to an old hymn that I associate mostly with funerals, as it was a staple in the church in which I grew up.
The hymn was written by Horatio G. Spafford in 1873, after two major traumas in his life. I think Jaded JD’s reference to it is appropriate: leaving Virginia, home to his paternal family for 382 years, has to be a trauma for him. The reason he is leaving left – Virginia moving toward the enshrinement of hatred into its constitution – is, as he says, “equivalent of spitting in my face.”
Not everyone impacted by this hate amendment has the option of leaving Virginia. But even to lose one good, productive citizen is one too many. I respect the religious views of those who view being gay as an abomination, but I strongly disagree with them. In times past, the Bible has been used to justify hatred of blacks, which I see as on par with this. We all know how well that worked out. We are still dealing with the effects of institutionalized racism in our country.
We live in a democracy, not a theocracy. Religious teachings should guide our personal sense of right and wrong. Our country was founded on freedom of religion, which, in my mind, also means freedom from religion. The Marshall/Newman amendment is an attempt to codify hatred and its effects will be dealt with in generations – plural – to come.
UPDATE: Apparently, I (among others) mis-read the post linked to above by the Jaded JD. He has already moved from Virginia, as he points out in this post.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Yes it was. So, now what do you want to do with us?
For me, I prefer to no longer work, no longer take responsibility for my family and have them taken care of by the government, be entitled to pay, healthcare, and free food. I also want to have sex with as many women as possible and have the government pay for their abortions. I want to go to school for the rest of my life and have the government pay for it because maybe, I might work. When I get old and have liver problems from all the booze I bought from my government handouts, I want free medicine. When I can’t get an erection anymore, I want free Viagra because it is a quality of life issue. I want every church torn down because it offends me when I see any religious symbol. I think that I should have at least 30% of your money. If you make more than $200K, you should give me 90%.
Hey, I like this lifestyle. Thanks for convincing me.
Jim – I have added the entire text of the amendment into my sidebar.
Wow! JR, I’m so excited about what you said! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read the language of the amendment. It’s absolutely horrible. And go to the Commonwealth Coalitition blog site. It’s very good. This so-called “marriage amendment” impacts situations of domestic violence, property rights, economic development. Their blog gives excellent discussion to how that is. .
Waiting with baited breathe, JR…
David – thanks for that link!
Check out this Daily Press article written by Rev. Michael Christiansen, pastor of Warwick United Church of Christ in Newport News.
Sorry to run a tangent on this posting here but I can’t resist…
Vivian, did you get a chance to meet David at the blogging summit last weekend? I want you to know that he is my bestest-estest friend in the world. While I may have been the idea person behind Black Out, David was the message. And boy, is he talented!!! I miss him so much. Had we stayed together, then watch out Virginia. But of course, I had to mess things up and move down to VB. Damn, we were quite the team.
I know that if you two were able to connect at the summit, you will soon be fast friends.
I did meet David at the Summit but there wasn’t a lot of time to spend with folks getting to know them. I was surprised to find out that Equality Loudon is a separate organization from EV and did have a chance to chat with him a bit about that.
As much as social conservatives will truly hate me for what I am about to say, I really can’t support this amendment.
Jim – you have said that before and I think it is the right decision, even for social conservatives.
Jim: It’s true – this amendment just isn’t conservative, it’s extremely radical. It frightens the hell out of me that you hadn’t read the whole thing until now. What that tells me is that there will be a substantial number of people who will vote for it on the basis of a soundbite, only to realize too late that they shouldn’t have.
There’s a lot of work to do to prevent Virginia from making a terrible mistake.
Hi Eileen!
Hi David!