Neighbor disturbance.

I go to sleep at odd times, so I woke up last night at 8:40 to urgent calls for "Help" coming from the wall, out of my next door neighbor's apartment. I called 911 and reported it. As soon as I did, the cries stopped.

Just in case I wasn't too craven to help, I got dressed.  The police came by in just a few minutes. They took my neighbor and his female friend downtown. It was odd, because my neighbor lived alone. This was a guest, an old flame. I could tell, by the fight they were having earlier in the day over who brought up other men (she said emphatically she never did, but he always did).

He's a born-again Christian. A family-oriented sort. I had to break it to him once that my entire belief in Jesus was that he might have actually existed. Contrast him with my neighbor beyond the east wall, who only has loud, drunken, gay sex late at night. I can wear ear plugs if I need to sleep, but some of it is very funny, particularly the battle-cries.  I've never felt compelled to call the police about them.

Yes, (I tell my homophobic family) it doesn't matter if it's hetero- or homosexual. A bad relationship is as bad either way. No legislation against gay marriage will make hetero relationships any better. Though it probably won't make them worse.

However, the real drive toward banning gay marriage (aside from the gay-averse motives obvious to everyone but those who have them) is that in the Bible, God punishes nations. If two gays clandestinely marry, then it's their sin. However, if the nation makes it legal, then the whole country is sinning. It's the same with the issue of choice. If a woman has an illegal abortion, then the sin stops with her, her doctor and her sex partner. If the US makes it legal, then America is sinning.

This is why these private issues turn into public ones. Though even here, the person chooses their beliefs due to unconscious motives. If they're believing that God punishes nations, they have an unconscious motive to do so.

A certain fear of permissive sex does affect a person's religious beliefs. I think that some people just fear a libertine environment thinking that underneath, everyone is inclined to molest children and fuck animals. Call it obsessive- compulsive, perhaps. Sex is basic to human behavior, why wouldn't there be OCD behavior around it? The fear that their sexual environment is out of control bothers some people too much.

It disturbs them enough that stories about a God who dominates people's sex lives really resonate with them. Blind, unconscious fear is no reason to make people suffer or deny them happiness. Our society needs more sexual freedom.