God save the queen(s)

"Well, I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage, and you know what, in my country and in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised and that's how I think it should be between a man and a woman."

There aren't many issues more divisive than the one she so, um, eloquently addressed, but I do have a bone to pick over the Miss California brouhaha.

It doesn't really matter that I think the beauty queen was rather unfortunately set up by the other queen (but such is life); it doesn't matter that I think she's wrong (but she is). It wouldn't be necessary for me to point out that she appears actually to be promoting heterosexuality itself over homosexuality or gay marriage, given the risque pictures that have surfaced (so why bother to point it out?); it would simply be too easy for me to point out that given her apparent states of accidentally public undress it would be difficult for her to make any credible commentary on the concept of "marriage" (but Fox News and N.O.M. are more selectively forgiving than I); it would also be entirely irrelevant of me to make light of her apparent talent for "wordsmithing" (we now have her to thank for the phrase "opposite marriage"... but in her defense, she at least didn't do as badly as this girl).

No, these things don't actually matter.

Actually, Carrie Prejean should be commended for speaking her mind and "standing up for what she believes in." Seriously. The gay judge put her in an incredibly awkward situation, and she had to have known that it would not be the most popular answer to give in front of the world. But, as we can only assume, she answered true to her convictions; the rest is history (well... if only). What really grinds my gears is when someone makes a stand like that-- making a statement of their beliefs, "standing up" for what he or she believes in, etc.-- and then complains when he or she is attacked for it.

By definition, I don't think you would be "standing up for what you believe in" if there was no possibility of being slandered or attacked or criticized. When you have the "courage" to speak out of your convictions or stand up for your beliefs, you ought to have the backbone or the integrity to take whatever's coming. Right? Otherwise, whining about being slandered by "the liberal media, et al" comes off more like a hit-and-run than a stand. This is something I believe in: accountability. You say something bold, smart, stupid, or controversial, and you then answer for it. And don't give me the crap about your "right to free speech" being threatened; you live in a country where you have the freedom to say whatever you want and where the next guy has the freedom to call you an idiot for it.

I learned this lesson with a previous blog and through various life experiences. You don't run from what you've said or done. Not if you're a grown-up. Not if you're "for real." And yes, the world is unfair (in actuality or in perception), but if you can't stand up for what you believe in without whining about it, then maybe you should stay seated until you figure it out.