Best Practices in Being Human

You probably don't recognize the man in the image above.  I wouldn't have before last week.  He's democratic senator Ed Murray from Washington state.  One morning last week, as I was driving in to work, I heard a story on NPR, detailing the recent passage of a bill in Washington, which would legalize same-sex marriage there.  Granted, there's all kinds of chatter in the news right now on this topic, especially today after the federal appeals court in California determined the voter-approved ban on gay marriage there to be unconstitutional.  But, my reflections tonight are not on all of that buzz, they are focused on the words of Truth that Senator Murry declared as the Washington bill was being passed.

The senator was quoted as saying the following:

[Lawmakers who vote against gay marriage]"...are not, nor should they be accused of bigotry...Those of us who support this legislation are not, and we should not be, accused of undermining family life or religious freedom...Marriage is how society says you are a family."

I found this statement to be profound because it was an expression of tolerance too seldom heard--in politics or any other sphere of our modern-day society.  After thinking further about the words uttered, I decided I think this statement deserves to be counted as a best practice in politics.  In legal marketing, we often refer to and encourage the sharing of "best practices."  As such, we often discuss our experiences with one another, pointing out issues encountered and resolved, obstacles happened upon and overcome, etc.  Overall, best practices (and especially the communication of best practices) places everyone on the same plane of knowledge, encourages success in approach and places an undeniable focus on the common goals we share.

Sen. Murray's statement above places everyone on the same plane.  We're all human, and we all will require tolerance from someone (or a bunch of people) at one point or another.  His approach demonstrates a willingness to encourage success, regardless of differences, and that success would be in the form of living peacefully and equally.  Is there anyone who doesn't want that? 

In politics today, it's very rare to actually witness peaceful conciliation of partisan differences.  But, I think Sen. Murray did this amazingly well with his words above.  It places a hugely controversial topic on such a basic level of human understanding.  For any given moral priority or personal freedom, we should all be willing to exchange with one another and respect differences.  I'll give anyone their religious freedom and worry-free happiness in return for my personal freedom and worry-free happiness.  See how this works?  Tolerance.  Understanding.  Best practices in being human.