Have we lost touch with......words?

05/10/2012
In the movie "The Matrix Revolutions", one of those wonderfully simple but incredibly complex lines that is delivered hit me this week when I heard all of the back and forth about MARRIAGE vs. CIVIL UNIONS. The lines, delivered by Rama-Kandra (a program in the world of the Matrix) when responding to Neo, golike this:

NEO: I just have never.....
Rama-Kandra: .....heard a program speak of love?
NEO: It's a...human emotion.
Rama-Kandra: No, it is a word. What matters is the connection the word implies. I see that you are in love. Can you tell me what you would give to hold on to that connection?
NEO: Anything.
Rama-Kandra: then perhaps the reason you're here is not so different from the reason I'm here.

Connection.
Love.
Emotion.
What it implies.

So, why did this scene hit me between the eyes this week? Well.....let's hear some other words.

"When these issues were raised in my state of Massachusetts I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender....."

"when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same sex relationships, who are raising kids together....."

"gay marriage is a matter of conscience. It is the responsibility of states to regulate marriage as they see fit".

Swap the words marriage, relationship, union, in any combination you might imagine, does the meaning really change?

So, what is the difference between a marriage and a civil union. If you look at meaning, civil can mean refined. It also can reference politeness. Marriage comes from maritus, which means joined or "yoked" together. Slightly joking, I'd rather be in a civil union than bound in a relationship by the throat with no way out. Not that my marriage is like that at all, I'm just illustrating the absurdity of the perceived difference.

Most of the conflict comes from the word, or meaning. It really is just a word. If our representatives across the country were more focused on the issue instead of playing with the meaning or what they think is the meaning, we'd get much farther along in our discourse.

Is this anything close to the Emancipation Proclamation? Slavery? No, let's be very clear about that. But it is something that should be dealt with in as compassionate a way as possible. We are supposed to be a civilized society, we want all people to be treated equally, we were all created equally according to our own country's founding documents, we look for all to have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, am I to be the judge of what makes others happy? I hope when I reach my own judgement day that I am able to stand there with my head high and be able to truly know that I have treated my fellow man as I wished to be treated, without bias to time, talent, or treasure.

I hope we can all do the same.....