Fair-Minded Extremism

I had just about decided not to post my thoughts on the comments to an entry by Roger Simon. What strikes me is the sheer extremism, the fundamentalist confidence, and the belief that only hateful people could take a contrary position. There's no concern for the way in which the "right" policy is implemented. There's no concern about the adverse consequences that accompany even the most righteous change, when that change is as profound as gay marriage would be.

The reason I wasn't going to mention those comments is that they got me thinking that perhaps it would be worth exploring the extent to which Internet demographics play into the arguments. If I had to characterize the standard online position on my side, it would be that tying up some legal issues for gay couples would be fair and compassionate, but that there are reasons for society to single out male-female unions for special approval. There's a quip here, an expression of disbelief there, but for the most part, it is understood, at the very least, that there are shades of motivation and reasonableness on the other side of the issue.

Of course, I'm aware that there are probably chat rooms and certainly computerless folks out there who would put Simon's commenters to shame in the vitriol department with the opposite point of view. That's why I began to wonder whether one could generalize about the relative ages and social positions of those who take both sides on the Internet. The "college kid" corollary on the conservative side of the gay marriage issue is probably far less likely to have ready access to a computer and sufficient interest to read and comment on political blogs than would be an actual college kid.

Anyway, as I implied, there's much to be considered here, and it's hardly so obvious that it can be stated confidently, and I don't have the highest confidence in my ponderosity today. But... then I came across Andrew Sullivan's screed, which could really knock a person back a step. Support for the marriage amendment, according to Sullivan, can be nothing other than a hateful political ploy. That's it. End of story.

Now, I have sympathy for Sullivan in this. Not only is he gay, and not only does he seem to have identified the right to marry as some sort of balm that would retroactively heal the wounds of his childhood, but he's devoted a substantial portion of the latter half of his life to this cause. It would, in fact, be a bit surprising, perhaps disconcerting, if his blog-speed reaction had been of completely even temper.

Nonetheless, I can't help but feel that he's let something more constant show through. I'll be exploring some of this in greater depth in the very near future, but Sullivan changes tone so dramatically when he feels he's got the upper hand versus when he feels he's losing leverage that it's reasonable to be wary of making any judgments based on promises of magnanimity when he thinks the issue is going his way. Frankly, I suspect he's not alone, among gay marriage supporters, in this. He's said that the civil-rights, gay-marriage-supporting, assimilationist side of the gay community has won some sort of internal battle of ideologies. I'm not so sure that's what's happened; I'm not even sure that can be said of Sullivan himself.

So, in short, I think it worth your time to read Sullivan's comments; he hasn't summarized his talking points more concisely anywhere. From the "sacred document" appeal, to race baiting, to accusations of politics, to — yes — assumption of bigotry:

That very tactic is so shocking in its prejudice, so clear in its intent, so extreme in its implications that it leaves people of good will little lee-way.

If you're of good will, in other words, you must oppose this President. If this feeling is deeper than just-stung swearing, I fear Sullivan is badly misunderstanding which way this issue is going to go:

We must appeal to the fair-minded center of the country that balks at the hatred and fear that much of the religious right feeds on.

You may support gay marriage. You may even believe that, deep down, opposition to it stems from some sort of prejudice. But one thing it is delusional to believe is that the "fair-minded center" will look at the President's speech this morning and see hatred and fear of homosexuals. The actual direction in which those emotions are running couldn't be clearer.