Inquiry: They can make it simpler

They can make it simpler. (Specifically, in the debate around gay marriage.)

1. True?
   Well, in my stories, it is sometimes true.
2. Sure it is true?
   No, not at all. Just my own stories.
3. What happens when I take it as true?
   • I tell myself the debate could be much simpler. Instead of mixing up the legal and religious aspects of marriage, why not separate them out for everyone? The state takes care of the legal aspects, a contract between two people whether they are different or same sex. The churches take care of the religious/traditional aspects, and it is up to each church whether or not they want to offer ceremonies to same and/or different sex couples.
   • I tell myself I know better. I know, they don’t.
   • I tell myself there is something wrong with Americans. Why not make it simple and really a non-issue, as it is in my country of origin. (Where they do have gay marriage and not much discussion around it.) I tell myself there is something wrong with me living here in the US, when there is a mismatch – in so many areas – between the culture here and what I feel more at home with.
   • I tell myself the world is not as it could or should be. I experience separation. I locate myself in time and space, with a particular identity and viewpoint, different from that of others.
   • When did I first have that thought? Probably in high school, when I developed most of my views on those things.
4. Who would I be if I didn’t take it as true?
   • Open. Curious. Receptive. Friendly attitude.
   • Curious about their views and where they are coming from.
   • Recognizing that they are products of their own history and culture, just as I am with mine. They live their history, just as I live mine.
5. Turnarounds.
   • They can not make it simpler.
     • No, they are products of their history just as I am mine.
     • They are caught up in their own beliefs around this, just as I am caught up in mine.
     • In their own view, it may already be very simple, just as it is for me when I take the initial story as true.
   • I can make it simpler.
     • Yes, by being more clear and honest with myself.
     • Yes, by investigating my beliefs to find what is more true for me.
   • My thinking can make it simpler.
     • Yes, when stories are not taken as true, it becomes very simple.