You’ve probably heard, and if you haven’t, you must be living under a rock. Whether you were jumping with joy, completely appalled, or just indifferent, the fact remains—same-sex marriage was legalized this past week. This day was a pretty big one in history. My guess is years from now it will be remembered the same way we remember something like women’s suffrage: a notable time in history for equality. No, it wont be as infamous as the assassination of President Lincoln or the dropping of the A-bomb, but historic, nonetheless.
But this article isn’t about the legalization of same sex marriage. I am not going to sit here and praise or condemn it. Truth be told, I was not shocked to hear the news of this legalization, and I’m sure many others expected the ruling in favor of same-sex marriage like I did.
What was more shocking to me were the reactions I saw to the matter. I am typically used to a more conservative take on things. That is not to say that I am severely conservative, but many of the people I know are. So, this ruling was a real rock of the boat to them. And I love these people, but after seeing their harsh reactions to this legalization, I became disappointed in them.
On, the flip side, I saw people openly condemning people for not applauding the ruling. I was witnessing an all-out war over social media. And, man, people can be mean. Over the last week, I have been witness to countless instances of cyber-bullying, all because of a difference in opinion.
I cannot tell you how many Facebook statuses, Instagram posts, Snapchat stories, etc. I saw that were completely bashing people with opposing opinions to those held by the writers of the posts. I mean, I was reading purely hateful things. And it broke my heart. It is sad to see how quickly people rush to judge others. One post I read explicitly referred to people marrying someone of the same sex as animals, specifically dogs. That is just sad.
Like I said, this isn’t meant to be a commentary on the legalization of same-sex marriage, I will not note my opinion on it or argue for either side of the quarrel, because as far as I am concerned, the matter is none of my business. But the reaction to the ruling opens up the floor for a bigger question: can't we all just get along? This article can be applied to any bully-victim scenario. This article is more meant to (hopefully) open people’s eyes to the triviality of their hateful words. Regardless of your opinions and beliefs, don’t you think you’d just be a happier person if you didn’t devote your energy toward being spiteful?
I know my rant will receive a lot of backlash and disapproval, but I thought people should have something to make them think for a second about their latest post. Does it need to be said? (If in the end you determine that it does need to be said, please check your statements for grammatical issues Otherwise, you’re just embarrassing yourself.) Take the time to realize that your words and actions have power. That power can really hurt people. And more often than not, those people don’t deserve to be hurt. So broaden your horizons of thinking, respect other’s opinions, and think twice before you display your words on the Internet for everyone to see.
I keep trying to add length to this article to make the writing more compelling and influential so that people will actually listen to what I’m saying. But in the end the message is fairly simple, short, and to-the-point. We need to grow up and stop acting so childish. Quit the name calling and jeering. It’s time for us to stop making fun of the kids on the playground for wearing different clothes or playing with different toys. After all, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
