Who casts the first stone?

Checking out links on Facebook today led me to this story about the "The Marriage Vow" and the willingness of Republican Presidential candidates to sign it.  Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum have already signed on, and others may be on the way shortly.  If you'd like to take a look, read below.

The Marriage Vow

My quick summery after a read-through: the candidate pledges to "protect" marriage through various actions and legislation if elected to office.  As I am generally a liberal fellow, you are probably not surprised in my lack of support for this document.

In wandering though the experience of reading this, I was struck by two things.  First, the liberal reaction is mostly vitriol.  Is the left really surprised by this?  Here we see on paper exactly what a number of candidates have been talking about throughout their campaigns.  The reaction to this on the right, I presume, is one of affirmation.  These are, after all, Republican candidates looking for ways to distinguish themselves in a race full of a lot of look-a-likes.  Telling their base in no uncertain terms exactly what they want to hear when it comes to social issues, so, no, I am not surprised by the news of the Vow, or that candidates are signing it, because that's what the Republican base wants.

And that leads me to my second thought, which I find much more important.  If we describe ourselves as progressive, how are we to have a conversation with those that oppose us by starting the conversation with insults and belittling.  I see progressives so quick to claim the high ground on so many issues with a reinvention of moral superiority the marginalized have sought so long to eliminate.  Doesn't it seem the least bit hypocritical and pretentious to tell other people they need to stop bullying and name calling and finish by calling them stupid for not getting it?

Oh, I'm could talk about the problems I have with this vow and those candidates that support it, and I could for quite some time, but that's beyond the point.  We can disagree with each other on how we view the world and how we implement policy.  But if we truly believe that our vision for the country is better than some other vision, we cannot start down that road by stepping backwards into pettiness and thuggery.  After all, that's what it is to call someone stupid.

I was reminded in class this week that, despite a many and varied differences, we are all human.  It is important to remember that we all deserve compassion.  We come from different social locations, political systems, and spiritual beliefs, but we must remember that we must be compassionate for every human, not matter how badly we disagree with them.  Everyone had their bias on how they view the world, but if we add compassion to that bias, we can start a conversation about moving forward without moving backward.