The Culture Wars
As the Washington Post (and others) have recently reported, conservatives are making gay rights, especially same-sex marriage, the leading cultural wedge issue for the next election cycle, ahead of abortion.
While the choice of focus for conservatives may make political sense to them, as Democratic presidential frontrunner Howard Dean is seen as vulnerable on the issue, the resultant rise in homophobic hysteria is harmful to our social fabric.
In today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there is an article about a prep school chaplain (at a non-denominational school) who was forced to resign for expressing in the school newspaper his support for the Episcopal Church's confirmation of a gay bishop. The chaplain said that God is more concerned with one's spirituality than one's sexuality. Apparently in some parts of America, that was too controversial an opinion to have and keep one's job .