Bridges of Trust



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Permission granted by author for anyone to distribute this
writing free of charge (including translation into any
language)...under condition that no profit is made therefrom,
and that it remain intact and complete, including title and 
credit to the original author.

Ezekiel J. Krahlin
http://www.gay-bible.org
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BUILD BRIDGES OF TRUST, NOT MAZES OF LAW

© 2004 by Ezekiel J. Krahlin
(Jehovah's Queer Witness)



On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 a Gaynet member posted:

<<
We've been watching the wrong game.

With attention focused on the doomed
constitutional amendment to ban same-sex
marriage, the media, general public, and gay
rights supporters are overlooking a more
lively threat: H.R. 3313, the so-called
Marriage Protection Act.
>>

(And my response:)

The very same (and necessary) "safety valves" embedded in our balance
of powers also create avenues of corruption by those who'd grossly
misinterpret the purpose of these safety valves. For w/o these valves
in the first place, we'd be no better than a dictatorship...yet,
extensive corruption as is now becoming manifest in Amerika, likewise
drives us toward totalitarianism.

This all goes to show that a democracy cannot run by laws more than by
a common network of trust...w/o which we are doomed. For what are laws
but simply a bunch of words on paper? And words are like slippery
eels, for one can interpret them in such ways as to even give the
*opposite meaning of the original intent by their authors...eventually.

This means that--assuming we successfully stomp out this latest threat
(H.R. 3313), another threat will suddenly loom on our queer horizon,
and once more we'll say:

"We've been watching the wrong game."

No matter how many laws, amendments and riders we create in order to
rectify problems in our democracy...they can always be reinterpreted
against their original intent, simply by redefining its words, phrases,
or sentences.

Words have *never been an effective defense against evils, wrongs, and
majority prejudice. That is plainly and simply, an illusion...however
effective or solid it may appear (like a mirage). It always comes down to
*trust...which trust is broken when words of a law created to protect
a group of people are intentionally misconstrued, and used to
persecute these same people, in the same legal system (supposedly)
intended to guard our civil rights.

There is no trust among ourselves, as citizens of this nation...nor
has there ever been, to any sane extent. There have simply been cycles
of more trust and less trust, relative to each other. Obviously, this
form of quasi-trust has *never been strong or assertive enough, to
turn the tide in favor of queer equality. And we are getting a very
strong *taste of this hatred and prejudice these days.

We are being drained of our resources, energies, and will, by being
coerced to jump from one threatening issue to the next. This route is
a vicious cycle, it will never end; it will never gain us our
freedoms. We need a new system based on *trust within our own
community, in order to gain the necessary empowerment to put an end to
these centuries of anti-homosexual persecution.

We do *not need to fight against cruel reinterpretations of statutes,
amendments, and other laws. For that is a game that never ends, with
the enemy always the winning opponent.

Trust is nothing that can be asserted by the courts, or any
constitution. It is a matter of behavior, of ethics, of conscious
decision to be totally trustworthy, in spite of the vulnerable
position this may put you in. Coming out of the closet likewise makes
one vulnerable...and if you've done that, then the decision to inspire
trustful relations is something you ought to be able to likewise
achieve.

If there is no trust among citizens...or a very weak level of
trust...then the enemies of democracy can easily rechannel society's
ways into a dictatorship. When neighbors and associates can be so
petty as to screw up your job, friendship, social life, because of
ridiculous *jealousy...then who needs brown shirts to do the dirty
work? And that is what I mean by a breakdown in trust among each
other.

You may think it only matters among your *real friends...and that it's
okay to sabotage another's situation, as a sort of game, which really
does no harm in the long run. But when you add it up with everyone who
behaves like this, you have a very hazardous social fabric, that harms
*everyone. It makes people fearful and suspicious of each other,
including of course, queer-on-queer relations. 

It creates a frightening reality of potential homelessness, job loss,
and social isolation...should one not conform to others' ideas of
"toeing the line". In a frantically speeded-up society as we've
become, (with a severely frayed network of trust), gossip can rapidly
spread...which can turn into slander and defamation of character,
which *do seriously infringe upon the happy functioning of the
individual, and the community at large.

Trust can *only be inculcated by setting an example, and teaching its
values under the myriad belief systems that exist in a multicultural
society. Trust should *not be monopolized or usurped by one
belief-system only...as has been done by Christian fundamentalists,
whose claim is that only trust (and all other ethical attributes) is
possible *only when you give yourself to their particular deity, and
no other.

For trust should also be practiced among people of differing faiths
(and non-faiths). Trust unites a fragmented minority of oppressed
people, and empowers them like never before...as trust is one thing
the enemy does not value even among its own kind.

Increasing genuine trust among our own sexual minorities is *vital to
winning liberation. Those in spheres of power and influence who really
do care about our rights, have the greatest obligation to foster trust
by being trustful themselves. They must reach out to our common queer
citizens, with examples of trust that require personal sacrifice in
order to pass the test of trustworthiness, and inspire our community
towards furthering trust among each other, on *all levels of our
society.

We should not be so occupied with making this a "greater" Amerika, by
participating in one legal word game after another...which is simply a
pointless, vicious cycle. We *should become more involved with making
our own community a "greater" community. (Out of that, will be born a
great Amerika.)

Queers of great wealth need to unite and form our own safety net,
universal health insurance and housing, guaranteed living wage, and
free quality public education for all sexual minorities. One way to
solve unemployment, is to hire our own poor and homeless, to help
coordinate this great plan. (Another is to provide a living wage to
those chores now classified as "volunteer work". This would *also
increase the numbers of our queer citizens who'd participate *directly
in political activism.)

Many people define idealism as chasing windmills; in other words an 
unrealistic, time-wasting venture. But I see no way *other than pursuing 
ideals, if we ever hope to win our rights, and respectful regard by
heterosexuals.

--finis