Putting Lipstick on a Pig

I grew up in the middle of the 20th century. Even though I wasn't in the middle of the conflict, I watched the civil rights movement evolve on the nightly news. The women's rights movement became a big issue. Many other social issues came to the forefront and our political leaders struggled with how to calm the storms. Many laws were written. Many social injustices were addressed. Many of those laws were contested and eventually decided by the Supreme Court. Many of  those court decisions were sharply divided on religious and political boundaries.

Just because a law was passed doesn't mean that the problem no longer exists. It doesn't magically go away. Look at how many major federal laws have been passed regarding civil rights: 1991, 1968, 1965, 1964, 1960, 1957, 1866. Do people still discriminate against those who are different? Of course they do.

Discrimination is a fact of life. Is it right to discriminate? Of course not. Is a law going to make those who discriminate change their minds? Nope.

Multiple federal laws have made discrimination illegal. Those laws didn't prevent the recent mass murder in Charleston, South Carolina.  Roe V. Wade was decided in 1973, that was 42 years ago. Does everyone now agree that abortion is okay? Passing a law on social issues doesn't fix the problem. It's putting lipstick on a pig. It might look nicer, but it's still a pig.

If you have gone your entire life believing something, a law isn't going to change your mind about the matter overnight. You're going to struggle with the new idea for a long time. Maybe you'll change your mind, maybe you won't.

A few of my friends and even some of my children feel that the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage is the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. I have to admit that it's a struggle for me. Growing up in the 1950's and 60's, I was taught that homosexuality was wrong. I'm a religious guy and the Bible says it's wrong. It just feels wrong and I can't change how I feel about something just because the Supreme Court says it's okay.

Do I hate homosexuals? Do I want to go out and shoot a few of them? No, of course not. But it's like a bad itch to me. It bothers me. A lot. And it's not going to go away tomorrow, in fact I'll probably go to my grave feeling it's wrong.

Don't get in my face and tell me I'm wrong. It won't help and will just make it more difficult for me to accept. Understand that it's a big struggle for me to change my mind on a difficult issue. I won't tell you that you're wrong and will go to hell because you think it's okay for two people of the same sex to marry. I might think it, but I won't say it. You're free to think I'm a bigot. A close-minded old man who is behind the times. Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. A Supreme Court decision isn't going to change the way I think.

Give me some time.