In politics, generalities are easy . . . Maybe we should learn some specifics

We all love talking in generalities about things we hear or read in the news. We all do it, spit out our opinions based on what is going on somewhere else and someplace else. The world is a big place, and we can say whatever we wish from the comfort of our homes. But sometimes reality hits us head on, makes us sit up and notice that there are real people involved in, and affected by, all those laws and opinions we read about.

Here’s the generality . . . We’re passing and threatening to pass laws that will limit people coming into America based on their religion . . . We are threatening to deport immigrants . . . We are passing laws that allow businesses to aggressively discriminate against gays and put transgender people in dangerous, confrontational places (bathrooms . . . which new laws mandate can only be used by people “born” male or female and not by those who identify as male or female).

Here are some realities . . .

A friend of mine has been married to her husband for 13 years. Together they have 3 children, he works, and she owns a business. They own a home and 2 cars. He’s from Costa Rica. She’s American. For years he’s worked here, legally, with a green card, but the recent political rhetoric has caused them some concern. So much concern, that after some discussion, they decided it might be best for him to become a U.S. citizen, something they talked about in the past, but with a bit more urgency now.

Their recent discussions focused on concern that, for whatever reason, there might be a huge shift in immigration policy, a “reset” that might lead to deportation of immigrants here legally, or a shift in “legal” status that could also lead to deportations.

The end result is that he ended up becoming a U.S. citizen, passing the 100-question test that most of us couldn't pass. (Perhaps politicians should be required to take and pass that test before they can take office.) So the rhetoric makes immigrants, legal and undocumented, uneasy and often fearful of the future. As a country of immigrants, that should make us all anxious.

It is estimated that more than 13 million Hispanics will vote this year, compared with less than 10 million in 2008. 

Here’s another . . .

You could be in a restaurant and the waitress asks if you’re gay. Why? “Because we don’t serve gay people.” Do you answer? Tell her to bug off or tell her indeed you are straight, but your friend is gay . . . or that indeed you are gay, “Is that a problem?”

Frankly, it’s none of her darn business, but these new laws have created these situations. I would be livid if a friend of mine was ever denied service . . . let alone fired from a job, not allowed to rent an apartment or thrown out of a hospital because he or she was gay. Don’t laugh. There will be tense confrontations and lawsuits, court challenges and screaming politicians.

While children in America are going hungry, politicians are focusing their legislative might on bathrooms and selling wedding cakes.

The awkward and hateful reality of "religious freedom " laws

So how does one deal with these anti-gay “religious freedom” laws?

Just how are they “enforced” or managed? How does a business “know” a potential customer gay and, thus, shouldn’t be served because being gay offends the owner’s religious beliefs? What happens if a business owner isn’t cowering behind the “religious freedom” curtain, but a waitress in the business says her beliefs prevent her from serving the gay couple at the corner table? Likewise, I would be angry if I tried to go into a shop with a Christian friend of mine and he or she wasn't allowed in.

Personally, I find the whole thing appalling and repulsive. That someone can deny service to another person because of his or her religious beliefs fits not even a sliver of what should be. Nobody should be denied equal rights for their sexual orientation . . . Why is this different from being denied service because you’re black, or Asian, or a Muslim, or blonde?

We are a large country filled with an equally large diversity of people . . . People of all colors and creeds, beliefs, lifestyles and faiths. Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, atheists, and on and on, fill America from coast the shining coast. (Let’s not even get into the variety of beliefs within a faith . . .) 

I fundamentally oppose legislation that purposely and aggressively discriminates against any group of people. We need sometimes to remind ourselves that we are not a “Christian” nation as some would have us believe, but a nation founded on principals of fairness and equality. And while a person’s faith needs to be protected (and is under our Constitution), that faith should never be imposed on others, or used as a weapon to discriminate.

It’s easy and short-sighted to discriminate against other people . . . Not so easy when you are the one being discriminated against. What happens if a Muslim opens a restaurant and won’t serve Christians . . . ? Imagine the outcry. Or maybe an atheist opens a bakery and won’t make wedding cakes for people getting married in a church? Ouch . . . Hear the screams of outrage . . . Turnabout is fair play, of course. Enjoy the comfort of you couch while you watch equality dissolve into a bowl of muck.

So if I go into one of these “protected” restaurants, say, how do they know or not know I’m gay or straight? If I’m gay and they serve me, is their God going to punish them somehow? A case of don’t ask, don’t tell? Do they ask if I’m gay? I go in with a friend and she’s gay, but I’m not . . . Do they serve me and not her?  Again, how do they “know” our sexual preferences? Do we pick up a letter at the hostess stand . . . “H” for hetro . . . “G” for gay . . . “B” for bi-sexual . . . “U” for undecided . . . or maybe “C” for celibate . . .

We pin the letter on our shirts? How awkward.

Either you run a business for everyone or you get out of the business. I don’t care. You make cakes . . . You serve sandwiches . . . You sell books . . .

I don’t want to go to your church and you don’t want to go to mine.

These “religious freedom” laws are fakes. There’s no threat to your religion because some random gay couple wants to buy a cake. People are people, whether you like it or not.

So-called “religious freedom” is just a high-profile part of legislative discrimination. All people should receive the same protections under the law . . . That means we don’t discriminate against people on jobs, hotels, buying or renting real estate, visiting sick loved ones in hospitals, or any other such nonsense.

It’s wrong on the face of it and it’s wrong on every level of exploration. Our politicians are creating false barriers and divisions that pretend to raise people up because of their beliefs, while putting others down because of their beliefs. If your religion prevents my friend from having lunch with me, then fuck you, I don’t care.