The whole “let’s quit performing all weddings at courthouses because a few clerks don’t want to perform same-sex weddings” debacle in Florida is crazy to me. It’s adults having temper tantrums because they’re being asked to perform a duty for their job.
I certainly have moral dilemmas in my own job, but I still have to perform the duties I’ve been hired to do. For instance, I think No Child Left Behind is doing far more harm than good in our country. Teachers are being judged based on how their students perform. That would be fine and dandy if kids all started off on a level playing field: had the same IQ, spoke the same language, had super supportive parents, and were all sheltered, fed, and well-rested when they arrived at school each day. That’s not reality.
In my local school district, for instance, there are 80+ languages spoken. People are moving here, enrolling their children in school without them knowing a lick of English, and then teacher performance is being judge on a one shot assessment near the end of the year. These kids just learned English, and a teacher’s job is on the line if they don’t pass.
That’s wrong, and it certainly brings up a moral dilemma for me. Does that mean teachers can simply sit down on the job, cross their arms over their chest, pout, and refuse to give their student’s the assessments?
Hell no. They give the tests, they lobby to get better laws passed, and they do everything they can to help their students. If that doesn’t work and the moral dilemma gets to be too much, they quit their jobs and go into different fields.
There are no administrators or judges going to bat for these teachers or pandering to them, telling them they don’t have to give the tests that are a skewed, out-of-focus snapshot of what their student’s can really do.
But that’s exactly what happened to these clerks in Florida. “There there, baby. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want.”
Puke! My twelve-year-old already knows this lesson better than they do.
These people need to grow up! If they have such a moral dilemma performing same-sex marriages, find another job. That’s the only good thing I can say about Sweet Cakes by Melissa; the woman refused to bake wedding cakes for same-sex couples, so she closed her doors. Granted, the lawsuit helped in that, but she still went out of business.
I face moral dilemmas all the time but adapt and make changes. I don’t shop at certain stores. I carry trash home so I can recycle it if no recycling bins are available. I homeschool my child rather than allowing her to get lost and fall behind in the social and educational fray of her old school.
I take responsibility for what I have control over. It’s time for all these anti-gay workers and businesses to realize they are there to serve the public, and if they are morally opposed to serving all people, they have no business being in the public sector. Time to get the hell out of the way. There are a lot of people who would love to have their jobs, who wouldn’t complain once when Jason and Brad come in to get married.
