Prayapolooza in Houston

[kib]

It is a hard task to undo thousands of years of social convention in the course of a generation or two and anyone or any organization who labels those who don't get on board soon enough as haters, racists, etc., do their cause a dis-service.

Interesting point. I think ... the world moves a lot faster than it used to. We once had a convention that surely Some groups were less deserving or inferior to others. Africans were an inferior race, period. "Mongoloids" were next down on the list, etc. Very heirarchical, place-on-the-ladder organization of thought, without much shift at all. About 100 years ago, we moved as a society to shifting that heirarchy around. Ok maybe women weren't inferior, but surely African Americans were. Ok, well maybe not them either, but surely Hispanics. And so on. Basially reshuffling who stood where on the ladder.

It seems to me that the world may have reached a tipping point with this in recognizing that perhaps this isn't a ladder at all, and no group necessarily stands lower than any other. Not everyone has shifted this elemental way of organizing their thought process, there are still whole societies in which respect revolves around some un-chosen characteristic like sex or family of origin, one's "place" (on the ladder) but this basic internal organization strategy in the brain seems to have changed for many people.

I get what you're saying about patience, Alan, but I think the majority here on these boards have shifted their thoughts or if they are younger, were born without the heirarchy mind-set and are impatient for others to "see the light" as far as a non-heirarchical frame for any and every group. It's not really about gays, it's about rethinking the idea of listing groups in order of valor or virtue at all. For people coming from a non-heirarchical place, it's sort of mind boggling to think that each and every group still needs to be individually sniffed over for decades before being granted the respect and privilege that other groups enjoy. If you're coming from a place of non-heirarchy, arguing about the validity of gay rights seems as illogical as arguing whether blue is as good a color as green.

Patience IS a virtue, and a good tool for getting things done over time. But it's sandpaper on the soul for all of us to be coming from such varying perspectives and try to gently understand the POV of others that seems so obviously wrong. Maybe that's where patience really comes in. :-)