Chuck Norris: Idiot

Former martial arts star and part-time Internet meme Chuck Norris has filed his two cents on the whole Proposition 8 issue in a column for TownHall.com. For those coming in late, Proposition 8 was the proposed amendment to California’s constitution that would ban gay marriage in the state. It passed by a clear majority. Since then, several protests against the amendment have been staged across the country. But if you’re looking for an explanation as to why anyone should care what Chuck Norris thinks about anything other than roundhouse kicks, I’m at a loss. Regardless, he explains his support for Proposition 8 this way: “[Votes supporting Proposition 8] weren't intended to deprive any group of its rights; they were safeguarding their honest convictions regarding the boundaries of marriage.” In other words, “I didn’t mean to take anyone’s rights away—I’m just protecting my opinions about marriage by taking people’s rights away.” He goes on to lay out the tired and disturbingly anti-American argument that the gay marriage ban is the will of the majority and should necessarily be respected. Apparently Chuck doesn’t understand that America isn’t a majority rules country. When it comes to basic human rights and civil liberties, we have a Constitution which upholds those rights in the face of the will of a local majority. This is why black people in Alabama are allowed to eat at the same restaurants as whites no matter what any white majority thinks about it. Also, gay marriage is an issue of the separation of church and state, as there’s no argument against it that isn’t based on religious feelings of ickiness about people of the same sex starting a family. But, of course, I don’t expect any brilliant feats of logic from the star of Firewalker. More details here. And for more on the Prop. 8 protests, tune in later this week to the next episode of The Amateur Scientist Podcast, where our own Christian Walters reports from the Atlanta, GA pro-gay marriage rally.