Fasting

I’m all for taking a stand. When I learned that Chic-fil-A funnels some of their profits into anti-LGBT cause, and also has very anti-LGBT hiring practices, I vowed never to eat there.

Now, that wasn’t hard because I’ve never eaten there and, in fact, very rarely ever eat fast food. But I spoke up about Chic-fil-A, here on this blog and to my friends and family, asking that they also avoid the Bigoted Chicken Restaurant.

I’ve also boycotted Wal-Mart — because of their inequality regarding employees, benefits and pay — and Target — when it was revealed that Target donated money to anti-LGBT politicians.

I take a stand by avoiding places; I take a stand by speaking up. I think everyone should stand for something.

A lot of folks these days, like the Rev. Dan Atkins, are fasting, after the Pope proclaimed on September 7th for a churchwide day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria:

“It’s a way to be in solidarity with people who are suffering terribly from war. I’m going to be thinking about the children, the kids, affected by this terrible conflict. I’m going to be inviting people to stop and think: Is the world more peaceful this world because of something I did, or not? It’s a way of bringing the pope’s message home.”

Now, is he never ever going to eat again? Highly doubtful, but his fasting is a protest, a stand of sorts, and I applaud his efforts calling more attention to the travesties in Syria.

And I remember as a kid hearing about comedian Dick Gregory, who went on hunger strike after hunger strike in protest of the war in Vietnam, in protest for Civil Rights, economic reform and anti-drug issues. Did his fasting end the struggle for civil rights, or stop the war? Of course not, but it was a stand, for equality and for peace.

Now comes one Trestin Meacham, a 35-year-old former Constitution Party candidate for the Utah State Senate who has taken a stand and begun fasting because he wants to stop same-sex marriage in Utah. He says he began his fast the very day U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled that Utah's marriage discrimination amendment was unconstitutional, and says he's lost 25 pounds so far.

So, he’s taking a stand. Good for him.

Too bad his stand is neither for peace not for equality. His stand is for keeping the status quo; for keeping The Gays firmly rooted into Second Class Citizenship; he’s fasting for hate, because, as a Mormon, he says The Gays are less than.

Oh, let’s be clear; Meacham loves the Gays — he no doubt loves everyone — but he just doesn’t want The Gays to have the same rights as The Straights. So he’s stopped eating and launched a Facebook page — you can search for it if you want, I try to avoid wingnut sites — announcing his fast:

“I cannot stand by and do nothing while this evil takes root in my home. Some things in life are worth sacrificing one's heath and even life if necessary. I am but a man, and do not have the money and power to make any noticeable influence in our corrupt system. Never the less, I can do something that people in power cannot ignore.

When a friend suggested that a fast was perhaps not the most advisable course of action, Meacham responded, 'Actually, history has shown fasting to be one of the most effective means of protests. Fasts have changed laws and brought down empires.'"

Evil. The Gays getting married is evil, but keeping The Gays down is good, then. Except Trestin Meacham wants to tell you that he doesn’t hate The Gays … in fact, some of his best frie — blah blah blah:

“This has nothing to do with hatred of a group of people. I have friends and relatives who practice a homosexual lifestyle and I treat them with the same respect and kindness that I would anyone. This is about religious freedom, and an out of control federal government …  Just because you disagree with someone's lifestyle does not mean you hate them. And standing up to evil does not make you unchristian.”

But apparently Trestin has forgotten that we are not a Christian nation, we are a nation that practices Separation of Church and State and so his religious freedoms, upon which no one, no one, has trodden, will remain unscathed, but he feels it right to use his religion to create laws in the is country. And he won’t eat until he’s proven right.

Meacham has said that, during his fast, he will ingest no food or drink except for water and vitamins — though no one knows if this is true. Trestin Meacham has decided that he would rather die than watch same-sex couples marry; not participate in a same-sex marriage, mind you; and not even witness the same-sex marriage of one of his alleged friends who practice homosexuality; he’d rather die than see same-sex couples be equal.

So I say, take that stand Trestin, and, as one person commented about this subject on another blog, “Ready the coffin.” See, same-sex marriage is happening, even in Utah, and deciding not to eat because you don’t want someone equal to you is your right.

It’s wrong, but it’s your right.

UPDATE: The United States Supreme Court has put Utah's same-sex marriages on hold, with Justice Sotomayor apparently referring the matter to the full Court rather than rule herself, which she had the option to do:

"The application for stay presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is granted. The permanent injunction issued by the United States District Court for the District of Utah, case No. 2:13-cv-217, on December 20, 32013, is stayed pending final disposition of the appeal by the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit."

Maybe Trestin will have a sammich … for today … because this is California all over again. And we all know how that ended.

Fasting For Syria

Dick Gregory

Trestin Meacham