Ship of Fools, here.
OK, here's why Pearl is the smartest person in this discussion. She's the only one who's got the sense to know, intuitively, what's at stake here. Freedom.
So let's start with something we all think we know well enough. . . gravity. . . . anybody here that doesn't know what gravity is????? Gravity is like freedom. . . . well, actually nobody really understands gravity. . . not scientists, anyway. Their little theorem and equation breaks down when it's taken too far. . . . far, far away. . . . some kind of little quirk in reality perhaps. . . . but at least none of us regularly makes mistakes in thinking the law of gravity just isn't there. I mean we all set our beer mugs down on the counter, and know how to pour beer into them pretty good, even when we're drunk. So we know gravity well enough, practically speaking.
Our laws are never "secular", the belief that we have, or can have a truly impartial government that doesn't reflect some kind of belief system, some kind of "religion", is just a lie. All laws are theological, in the sense that they bear the stamp of some kind of human belief about what "should be" or what "is right". Every law is intended to establish some kind of "order" on other people who may or may not "believe" that way or behave that way.
The only way we can have "freedom" from law imposed by government is to have a sort of law within ourselves that will make other people willing to put up with us, or at least leave us alone. The best way for us to achieve the highest practical level of freedom is to agree on the idea of not letting "government" get involved in our lives. That would mean we sorta agree on a lot of ideas like property rights, the most essential human rights like speech and conscience, and determine to respect those rights in others as much as we demand them for ourselves. . . .
Historically, our American "experiment" was purposed to put human rights under some protection from government with an attempt to limit the power of government. The folks who set up our once limited government knew that it wouldn't work unless the people could maintain some kind of "law" within themselves and exercise some discipline about not needing more government.
The really, really sad thing here is that a lot of folks are losing that moral principle and demanding that the government should take more power.
That's the gravity of our situation. When the dust has settled and the GLBT people think they have won their day, they will have created a monster government that thenceforth can dictate human beliefs and actions and anyone who opposes it can be marginalized with hate speech, or worse. It has never been an ideal of mine that government should take the lead in morals, either to define "marriage" and impose license requirements on it, or to attach to it special privilege and financial benefits. The GLBT folks who want government to do all that for them, too, are just as wrong as any other pious statists who ever wanted government to promote their morals.
The way to freedom requires us all to just say "To Hell with the Damn Government" and go do what we want, and all of us come out to shout the cops down when they come around to impose somebody else's orders on us. uhhhmmm. . .. which is to say, return to limited government, federalist principles of local government taking precedence over broader levels of government, and a return to respecting human rights at the most personal level.
The government is not the answer, the government is the problem.
Just like we all know how to pour liquids and keep them from spilling, we all know government is not "freedom", and it takes a little caring to keep government power in the mug.
