The Rights You Protect May Be Your Own -- Someday

The other day I was talking to a person who truly believes to be well informed about major political issues. This person willingly and proudly identifies as liberal. However, when I brought the subject around to Proposition 8 being frighteningly and really on the November California ballot, this well informed and liberal person said, "What's that?"
Proposition 8 seeks to over throw the recent California Supreme Court's decision to legalize same sex marriages.
A 'yes' on Prop. 8 is a vote to overturn the Supreme Court's decision and once again ban same sex marriage.
A 'no' vote on Prop. 8 supports the Supreme Court's decision and will maintain the right of same sex couples to marry.
The foundation of Proposition 8 is hatred and fear. Once unleashed, hatred and fear know few boundaries.

Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892-1984) spent eight years in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps and wrote about the danger of silence in the face of injustice.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Ignorance about urgent political issues cannot be an excuse for silence. We must speak out on behalf of the oppressed and on behalf of those at risk for becoming oppressed -- again.