Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Special Rights

I found this letter to the editor in the paper the other day. As you can see, the letter writer, like Martha, is worried and anxious about many things. (Probably thanks to her pastor and hours of "Christian" broadcasting.)

What caught my eye, though, was her fear of the "Gay Bill of Special Rights." I must have missed the memo on this one, the way I never got my free toaster oven.

Special rights? Wow. I wonder what they might be.

I'm really an egalitarian sort. I don't covet "special" rights. Well...okay...when I'm in a hurry and pull into the parking lot down at the Outer Podunk Stop-and-Shop and see a half-dozen empty handicap parking spaces, I'd kind of like a special right to park there, even though I'm not handicapped (except when I'm canoeing).

I read in Yahoo News this morning, en route here, that Ellen DeGeneres is in trouble for violating a contract with a pet rescue organization by giving her rescue dog away to her hairdresser because the canine couldn't get along with DeGeneres' cats. I can appreciate this scenario, and I understand DeGeneres' creative and humane solution to the problem. So I think DeGeneres should have the special right to break her contract with the pet rescue organization.

Those are the only two "special" rights for my people I can think of right now. So the poor, handwringing lady writing alarmed letters to the editor can rest easy.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another example of right-wing fear mongering. They've raised the strawman argument to an artform, whether it's Radical Feminists, The Gay Agenda, whatever...

Despite living in probably the most famously liberal state, I've yet to meet many people who fit these extreme strawman versions. Most people are just livin' their lives, just like the "rest" of us.

LutheranChik said...

I'd love to take this individual on a day trip with Fellow Traveler and myself -- a day trip through our very boring, conventional Christian lives.

Let's see...yesterday we de-fleaed the dogs, paid bills, mowed the lawn, cleaned up the flower beds, bought pumpkins and cornstalks from our Amish neighbors, had dinner, watched TV, sent a birthday card to an in-law, planned our retreat...I'm sure that isn't what's being presented to this poor lady as our "lifestyle."

zorra said...

The Thought Control Bill has passed the House?

LutheranChik said...

That's not what the little voice in my head said...

Anonymous said...

That letter is so bad,it's funny. My read is Beulah Praay is lampooning the so-called moral majority?
Cheers. Naomi

toujoursdan said...

I have to ask. Is Beulah Praay (Pray?) a real person and is "Freeland" a real town? It's so OTT that it looks like satire.

LutheranChik said...

Freeland really is a city; we just bought apple cider there the other weekend.

Now, the signature on the letter gave me pause. But the sad thing is...this is a pretty run-of-the-mill letter to the editor around here. There's a self-proclaimed "sister," who runs a rescue mission in our area, whose xenophobic newspaper rants make this missive read like a business letter. And these letters always seem to come in spurts, as if people are responding to some right-wing PAC's "urgent action" alerts.

I'd love to think that someone was funnin' with the editor, though.

LutheranChik said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Wow. Um, might we also want to ask our Senators if they could please do something about the Martian thought control rays, so that we no longer have ot wear tinfoil hats?

Anonymous said...

The "sexual orientation debate" board on B'net used to have a thread entitled "The Gay Agenda". It included items like:

...who's turn is it to take out the trash?
...don't forget to pick up clothes from the cleaners
....time to take Rags to the vet