Ritual Sacrifice at Silicon Valley

The following is a comment by Donald Conroy on 2 April 2014, before the ritual sacrifice by Mozilla of its CEO Brendan Eich. It was published at the blog, "First Things."

There is a difference between being against gay people and being against gay marriage. Marriage is a word that the government borrowed from religion. People who have traditional views have a problem with the idea that the religious word "marriage" might be redefined. I have been saying for years that the federal government should stop recognizing marriage altogether, and provide civil unions according to whatever definition the federal government wishes. Marriage should belong to churches, and their freedom of religion will permit them to choose whether to change or maintain the definition of the word. Since I believe marriage (Holy Matrimony) is a sacrament, I would have donated to Prop. 8 if I had the cash to spare. I have gay friends who are aware of my point of view on this subject. I have a transgendered friend who is aware of my point of view on this subject. To repeat: there is a difference between being against gay people and being against gay marriage. I am only against gay marriage. The word "homophobe" does not apply to me, and didn't apply to me when I first encountered the word back in the 90s.