Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Commitment

MAY 27, 6PM
The sun is in Gemini, as are the moon and Mercury. Venus and Mars share Taurus. Those of you who read charts are looking at the chart on this page and thinking, that's not right at all. The moon is in Cancer, Mercury's in Taurus, and Venus and Mars share Aries. I'm using a chart from thirty years ago. Saturn is back in Virgo in the 10th House, having returned.

Thirty years is quite a long time. I still haven't lived that long. However, it was on this day, thirty years ago, that my parents declared their love before friends and family. They committed themselves to each other and have remained committed for all these years.

Commit. Such an interesting and multifaceted word. Forgive the digression, but it must be explored for a moment. Interesting that we use the same word in reference to marriage as we do for battle (commit troops), insanity (commit to a mental institution), faith (commit to God), destruction (commit to the flames), politics (commit to an issue), and crime (commit murder).

Marriage is such a huge issue nowadays and has been for quite awhile now. Yesterday, California upheld Prop 8, a law that marginalizes a group of people and denies them the right to declare their love in a lawful ceremony. Perfect timing, California. Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the day Dan White was convicted for the assassination of Harvey Milk. Milk was committed to the cause of making sure that a group of people weren't marginalized for being who they are. Yet, today, the fight is still going on today. Strange to think that in thirty years, we haven't progressed as much as we might have thought. The battles that were being fought at the time are similar, if not the same as, the battles that are being fought today and on the same basis, one of which is religion.

It's been said that fashion goes through a thirty year cycle. Well, we can see that happening around us. Moving from flared jeans and peasant-y shirts to long, tunic-y shirts with wide belts around them in neon colors and skinny jeans? Oh, the 80's are back, dear friends. Is it the same with politics? Granted, it's pretty difficult to find an offense worse than skinny jeans, but I'd say that the marginalization of an entire group of people takes precedence. California, dear state, did any of you see Milk? Have you noticed the progression that has been made? Basic, human, unalienable rights. Does the right actually care about rights? We came here for freedoms and wouldn't the freedom to love be a basic, human, unalienable right? One would hope so. With the right trying to secure rights only for a select group of people, and the left fighting for who is left, then we're choosing security over freedom, and as Ben Franklin said, "Those who sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither."

Thirty years ago, my parents made a decision to entwine their lives in public fashion, a decision that has kept them happily together for three decades. Marriage was an option open to them. Denial of choice to those whose lifestyle is not a choice seems inane to me. And before you argue that marriage is a sacred practice, let's look at some reasons that people get married. There are people who get married because the girl is pregnant. Some people do it for the benefits of law. Some to keep certain people in the country. Some are lonely. Some want to escape their parents. Some to have sex. There are so many reasons and not all of them adhere to the sacredness of this strictly sanctioned ceremony. For something that's held up on a pedestal, we seem to do a lot of chipping away in our attempt to reach it.

And of course, there's love. Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad.

Perhaps we should all be committed.

1 comment:

  1. reminds me of the old saying that marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to be institutionalized? I think that the word marriage is somehow derived from the word, Mars. I say that you are fortunate in having been born into such a great family!
    Keep up the great work!

    ReplyDelete