'Pro Life, Pro Family, Pro Marriage': What It Means

On the way from a baseball game tonight, I had the distinct misfortune to hear the insufferable Ralph Reed (right), head of the misnamed "moral" something or other, which implies he has morals and people like me--who strongly oppose him--don't. He's never had even a sprinkling of morality that I'm aware of. Reed is one of the worst charlatans in American political history and tonight he was preaching to me about being "pro life, pro family and pro marriage" as if only he and his ilk could be that.

I am a liberal and I am pro life, pro family and pro marriage. Those things mean a good bit more to me than his narrow definition of each would allow. My pro life view includes being opposed to the death penalty, guns, war, discrimination against the poor, and in favor of allowing abortion to those who choose it. In many, many cases, abortion allows mothers to live better lives and keeps babies from being born into impossible circumstances.

Pro family includes gay parents, straight parents, mixed color parents and support of families who are having financial difficulties by pooling our money and spreading it around. Pro marriage, of course, includes blessing the marriage of anybody who is tough enough to give it a try. Frankly, my pro marriage stance would require those wishing to marry to go to school for at least six weeks of classes (five hours a week) and learn what it is about. If the married people want to become a family of more than two, they would be required to take classes for six months--five hours a week.

Now those are "pro" positions that don't exclude and that protect the institutions from abuse by the "moral."