The Not-so-Nice Side of South Pasadena
My DeepGlamour co-blogger Kate calls my attention to this shocking bit of political intolerance out of supposedly neighborly South Pasadena:
California has a proposition on the November ballot seeking to reverse the right of same-sex couples to marry. I am a heterosexual, married mother of three, but I find Proposition 8 no different from any other attempt to deny people their fundamental rights.
Our neighbors have a "Yes on 8" sign on their front lawn and on their many minivans. While I respect differences of opinion, to me this is hate speech and deeply offensive. My meager "No on 8" lawn sign hardly seems enough. Can I destroy their sign?
Anonymous,
South Pasadena, Calif.
Supporters of Prop. 8 could not have invented a more persuasive argument for their cause. Here is a woman who believes their free speech rights should be stamped out in the name of tolerance. Like the seven-year-old quoted below, she fails to understand that the other side is equally offended by her position and that the right not to be offended is inimical to a free society.
Jonathan Rauch needs to go on tour with a speech wrapping his message in Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought
