I'll just come right out and say it, this is the next installment in the round-robin writing exercise between DJ Colonoscopy and myself. :)
I have never contended at any point along the way that it was strictly religious influence that the anti-gay marriage people have to support your cause. In today's day and age, there is no way to take a stand in politics on strictly moral superiority, and those that do will be called on that stance.
This is, in fact, what I aimed to do (at least in part) with my original article. The primary contention people of the pro-gay marriage stance have -- that it's simply "right" that all of us re-define our idea of marriage. This is what we're talking about is re-defining society's image of what's "right." A minority think it should be one way, the majority another.
There aren't an overabundance of facts on either side of the debate, yet we persist in arguing them despite this; and in so doing we draw into the debate some of the biggest "hotbutton" issues of all time: Christian values, perversion in relation to the fall of old societies, and religious hypocrasy. I'm given to wonder if the point is to really convince one side or another of what the merits of one's argument is, or if the point is simply to rile the conservatives up in such a tizzy that they all jump off a cliff like lemmings once the liberals have their way.
Since we're mentioning the foibles of the right, let's illustrate the same for the left. At some point or another during the 80s, it was recognized that teen pregnancy and STDs were becoming an issue. To remedy this, instead of teaching our children (hrm, that would have been me at the time) that you can avoid all these pitfalls by the tried and true method of abstinence, children were told that "we know you're going to have sex, and we know you're going to do drugs -- here's clean needles, here's some rubbers."
If you need to learn the problems with this approach to teaching, you may want to go back and read [this article] about how succeptible the mind is to suggestion. If you want to learn how effective the teaching progam actually was, read [this recent report] linking drug abuse and teenage (and pre-teenage) sexual activity.
So to bring this all back around, just because marriage is already in trouble, do we throw the baby out with the bathwater? Do we just say "Michael Jackson ruined marriage for us all -- if he can get married, what can it really mean anymore?" and let centuries old definitions be re-written?
It is so easy to point to the solution of the moment, but I think few people outside the conservative arena realize the gravity of what is being proposed (and most of those people just kinda go along with the crowd of the moment, and don't have a clear picture of what they are arguing for).
I don't want to see idiots on television debating from their gut on this one. I don't want to see liberals comparing gay rights to the civil rights movements -- that's assinine. I don't want to see conservatives telling us to kill gay people -- that's evil. If I'm going to be subjected to Gay Marriage debate on a national level, I want to see an honest discussion of the facts. I want to see the best of what both sides has to offer. If I wanted trash-talking and sub-culture bashing, I could watch Jerry Springer, re-runs of the DNC or the upcoming RNC.
(I'm skipping the obvious joke about [the unmentionable station], but it's there.. you know it.. I know it.. I don't have to say it).
The first thing that needs to happen is that both sides need to stop calling each other liars. Both sides need to treat the other side some way besides 'beneath contempt.' We all have to share this country, and the Dwarves of Narnia like myself are sick and damn tired of you people fighting like Narnians and Calormen. (I hope you people like that reference, it works on a few levels).
To address DJ Colonoscopy's final point of "looking up America's very dark orifices to see what kind of sh!t we can really find..." I would have to agree. There are certainly more important issues at stake than this, but let's agree on something before we let this subject pass from the hallowed pages of rizzn.com:
The gay marriage debate is never going to pass in America. This is a fact of life we must endure -- there are far more of them than there are of us who want to make this an issue in the face of America, and they all have their various reasons why. We must keep our composure. You will be asked for you're opinion. Research the facts. Find out why you believe what you believe.
If you can face the issue of gay marriage in America with a straight face, don't lose your cool, and perhaps find a solution that is amicable to both diverse points of view, I believe we could take on any American issue facing us and defeat the problems.
Just a thought. This may be our litmus test as a country. Don't fail it.
/rizzn
on to looking up the annals of america or whatever.
Now playing: Thelonious Monk - In Walked Bud
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