I just got an email from a friend of mine that had a link to an online petition opposing a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. I’m sure that my friend, who is a lesbian, is desperate to do whatever she can to make this not happen. I am, however, of the belief that online petitions are a waste of time.

There is an excellent article about the futility of online petitions here.

If you really want your voice to be heard by your representatives you need to contact them directly. You can find out who they are through the U.S. Congress home page. You can send them an email if you like but if you really want your voice to be heard you are better suited to write them a polite, respectful, and concise letter. Make sure it is legible, grammatically correct, and spelled properly.

In other words, don’t give them any reason to ignore your letter. They are far too busy to spend any amount of time over a letter that is “obviously” from a lunatic or moron.