Internet Memememe

Over the last week, the image above (and numerous variations of it) has appeared across the Internet as people signal their support of equal marriage rights. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary (which is no Oxford English Dictionary, but that's a post for another day), a meme is "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture." So, now there's this Internet meme using that symbol. It's everywhere. All the cool kids are using it on Facebook and Twitter.

I'm not going to be using it, I'm afraid. Not because I don't support equal rights. I very much do. In fact, to go off an a somewhat related tangent, I've long argued that there are essentially three kinds of marriage: state-based (the legal status which is dealt with by law and courts), emotional (a feeling of being married), and spiritual/religious (sanctioned by a given faith), and that regulating one (say, the state) on the basis of another (say, religious) is fundamentally wrong. I believe any given religious institution has the right to say, "We don't believe in gay marriage, so we don't perform those ceremonies in our church." I also believe that any given church or religious institution has the right to say, "Come on in! You love each other? Want to get married? We're here for you!" I say these things because religion is rooted in systems of belief and morals - and religions vary widely on the way those systems of belief and morals work themselves out within their own community. Go them, say I. Believe whatever you like - so long as you only require it of yourself.

The state (or State, if you will) on the other hand, finds its basis in law. Our law which covers all kinds of things like non-discrimination and equal protection. Frankly, if the Supreme Court chickens out and uses standing of the parties not to rule on this issue once and for all (thus sending it back to the lower courts), they'll have plenty to be ashamed of. Under the law, marriage is not a religious question, nor should it be answered like one. To suggest that a readily identified group of people within our community whose only differentiation is sexual orientation should not be eligible for marriage (and the legal benefits and protections thereof) is to say that discrimination is okay. And that, my friends, is a damn slippery slope to be standing on.

Now, getting back to that symbol and why I'm not going to be using it. I'm not going to be using it because when I look at it, my first thought is, "Why the hell is it necessary for any right-thinking person, who believes in equality, to have to say so with a giant red symbol?" (And, for those of you interested in color psychology, red means stop or danger. Think about that for a moment.) That we live in a society where we have to say so in order to make a political statement about something that should be obvious in this day and age is... well, it's pretty fucking sad. To be honest, I think the people who are against equal marriage rights should have to clearly identify themselves before we do. Maybe with a red symbol of some kind or another:
As it is, all we're doing is shouting, "Me, too! Me, too! Me, too!" An Internet "memememe."

I guess that's okay. I know some of you reading this might be thinking about solidarity, and there's value in that, I agree. Still, I'd much rather identify those who are against basic legal protections than those who are for it. It seems to me that those folks are the ones we need to know about: so we can protect our nation from them.