Friday, July 16

Through the Looking Glass

I read the news every day, why I don't know, most of it is utterly depressing and demoralizing but I try to keep in in touch. One of the things I've noticed is how increasingly fictionalized people's thinking has become. Whether the issue is the environment, religion, or politics the opinions being expressed bare little resemblance to reality. It seems institutions like the Tea Party, the Catholic Church or the average radio talk show host are looking at the world through a weirdly distorted lens that only sees the past and refuses the present.

Argentina just legalized same-sex marriage. As Glenn Greenwald at Salon noted:

"It's worthwhile now and then to take stock of the vast disparity between how we like to think of ourselves and reality. When a country with Argentina's history and background becomes but the latest country to legally recognize same-sex marriage -- largely as the result of a population which demanded it -- that disparity becomes quite clear."

Like the other countries that have recognized this small minority, they don't view the issue as a threat to their cosmology but as a matter of social equality. By contrast, the current US policy is wildly outdated. In some Middle Eastern and African countries with their rabid homophobia makes one wonder what is in the water to make these people so paranoid.

It's not that this is a big issue it's merely focused on as a symbol of the change in reality fundamentalists can't tolerate.

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