Changing the Game

Now Newsweek is adding its 2-cent deficit of thinking to the gay marriage debate. SIGH. I am tired of yelling, "no, it's not!" as much as advocates must be tiring of yelling, "yes, it is!"
It seems to me that Jon Meacham's editorial is a perfect example of the only lasting gift of the Baby Boom generation-- meaningless, endless self-referential, self-righteous destruction. Winning is everything-- anything that has to be destroyed for me to win, burn it up, bomb it, tear it down. If I think you're wrong, that means I don't have to understand what you're saying, I have to stop you from being able to say it. And all this destruction is so that I can stand on the ash heap of Western civilization after I have destroyed the last "enemy" and shout out into the desert wilderness that was once a living world "yes it is!" and have that be the last word.
Enough. God save us from another Baby Boomer President; did it really matter whether he was a Democrat or a Republican? God save us from our current cultural and institutional leaders. Being right does not confer power to ignore the commandments of God; the toxic way this debate rages on drives out the faithful, and leaves only the loud, the brash, the brazen and violent. No one wants to be part of any institution that has as its core value, "I'm the leader and I'm right, so you either tell me I'm right or I will banish you." Life played out as a zero-sum game has no winners. Everyone loses.
Let's find a quiet corner to put the Baby Boomers, with enough round-nose scissors, construction paper, crayons, and glue to occupy themselves until they can run off to retirement and get on with the task of rebuilding what they have spent their working lives tearing down.
And for Boomers on both sides of these issues: we who are younger are not with you, on either side. We're tired of circular firing squads and bracing games of Russian roulette, where you always seem to be the coaches, and you expect us to be your team. Enough.
Let's get on with the business at hand. And Boomers, if you want to help out, do us a favor: sit down, find some humility, and try listening for a while.