I blame the schools and media.

[kengr]

With same-sex marriage now the law across all 50 states (and all US territories as well, a point often overlooked) we are seeing clerks and judges protesting the ruling and saying they'll never issue licenses to same sex couples.

But they don't want there to be consequences for this (that's one of the reasons for those *stupid* "religious freedom" laws that keep getting put forth)

We've seen this before. And, sad to say, just as often from liberals as conservatives.

Somehow, in teaching about all the folks who prevailed by using civil disobedience an essential part of the story has been lost.

Thoreau, Ghandhi, civil rights marchers and many others used civil disobedience. Sometimes they won, more often their losses helped point out that things had to change.

But somehow, huge chunks of the American public seem to have missed the fact that these people didn't just make a statement by breaking laws they disagreed with...

THEY TOOK THEIR LUMPS FOR BREAKING THEM. Jail time or worse.

There *were* consequences. Often extremely unpleasant ones. And they took action knowing full well the price they might pay.

But for *decades* we've had people wanting to "take a stand" but not wanting there to be any consequences. Sorry, it doesn't work that way.

Nor should it.

Comments

[seawasp]

And they also CHOSE their battles very carefully -- partly for that reason. MLK was always very careful to present himself as being part of the current society who just happened to be black, and was fighting for the right of himself and everyone like him to be TREATED that way. He didn't go to rallies dressed in the equivalent of street rapper clothes, he wore a suit, because fighting for the right to dress anyway you want under any circumstances wasn't the battle he was fighting.