We are born into a frightening and unfamiliar existence. We emerge into a world full of things we do not understand, and we are scared. As infants, we cling to our mothers for comfort and we cry when left alone. As young children, we fear the shadowy unknown of a closet or the underside of our beds, and we run back to our mothers at the striking and powerful sound of thunder or the eerie whistling of the wind. As we grow older, we learn about the world and its mysteries. We learn that we have nothing to fear from the dark blanket of night or the terrible crack of thunder. Our fear is driven away by our knowledge and growth.
As is the story of the human, so is the story of humankind. Man awoke in a new and unfamiliar world. He knew nothing about Earth or nature or himself. Surrounded by darkness, mystery and death, he fought for his survival. And in his confusion and fear he created something to cling to in his dark, cold nights. He created something to run to when the thunder cracked and the wind howled. From his fear, man built walls. It was to the protection of these walls that man ran in fear from the unknown around him. It was behind these walls that man took sanctuary from his insecurities. It was with these walls that man shut himself off from his brothers. It was from behind these walls that man’s fear of the unknown festered into hate. He dehumanized his fellow man. He enslaved his fellow man. He killed his fellow man.
As time went by, however, man grew. He learned about the world around him. He learned about himself. Most importantly, he learned to love. The walls of his fear and hate started to wither. As he learned, his knowledge drove away his insecurity. But the work remains unfinished. Many of man’s walls remain. Battered and aged, they yet divide us and stand in the way of our golden future. Marriage inequality is one of these walls, and it is time that we tear it down.
One week ago, America gave testament to this. The first sitting president to support marriage equality was re-elected. Washington, Maine and Maryland passed laws guaranteeing equal marriage for all citizens. Wisconsin elected the first openly gay U.S. senator. American voters made a statement. We announced clearly and proudly that the home of the brave will not be ruled by the fear of the ignorant. We declared that the greatest country on Earth will no longer stand for intolerance and inequality. We showed that love will ever be stronger than hate.
So here we stand. The march of progress has brought us before an ancient and weathered wall, already crumbling under the harsh judgment of time. Thousands of years of progress and struggle have worn away its outer surface, revealing the fear and ignorance from which it was built. Atop the wall remain a few of our fellow men. They still cower from that which they do not understand. Perhaps it is ignorance. Perhaps it is vanity. Perhaps they believe these walls are all they have. Whatever the reason, they stand in denial of the coming reckoning. It is no matter. They will come down. They will come down when the brick is torn from beneath their feet and their wall is ripped to the ground. The wall will come down. It will come down because it must.
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