Don't Get Too Excited, Part Two: We're Still A Nation Of Bigots
[Currently Listening To: Psapp - The Only Thing I Ever Wanted]
(note: this is a continuation of yesterday's entry)
As the world continues to celebrate this week's small but welcome return to common sense in American politics, and liberals everywhere are filled with hope for the future, let us not forget something very important: The American people haven't changed. Sure, a few more of us have finally acknowledged that the Iraq war is a cataclysmic disaster and something needs to be done about it, but beyond that, we're still the same nation bitterly divided between intelligent, rational people and closed-minded simpletons. How else do you explain seven more states voting to ban gay marriage on tuesday? Yes, amidst Democratic victories there were seven losses for common sense, as voters in Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin all decided to actively take away legal rights from a specific group of people.
Strip away whatever you might think about homosexuality for a moment, and really think about that: 20 of the 50 United States - the home of the free, the land of equal rights and opportunity - now have passed laws for the specific purpose of taking away the rights of certain people, purely because they are scared. They're scared of what they don't understand, because their superstitious little brains have been sealed off to other types of identity by a misguided interpretation of a very old book. No, not all homophobia is derived from religious beliefs, but you can be damned sure that Christianity is the driving force behind our country's growing gay discrimination.
I'm not gay, and I'm not some sort of gay rights activist - but this particular issue infuriates me, because it's rooted so wholly in ignorance. There is not one single valid reason in the entire universe why gay people should not be allowed to have every single legal right that straight people do, and to think otherwise is to be wrong. Period. I don't usually say this, but you're simply, unequivocally WRONG if you think that way.
Now, sometimes people will try and pretend that these laws aren't discrimination, because marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman, and we should not redefine it, and if gay people want to have their own marriage but call it something else, that's all well and good. Well, there are a number of problems with that reasoning, but here's the main one: Marriage isn't just some fun little thing that people do when they're in love. It's not just vows and rice and rings and gift registries at Bed Bath & Beyond. It's a legal commitment, recognized by the government, which gives you special rights, tax cuts, etc that couples who are not married do not have access to. So, if you want to save the word "marriage" for the straight couples - if that's really so important - then at the very least you have to introduce a new form of marriage specifically for gay couples that is a recognized legal commitment with the exact same privileges of straight marriage. It's funny how none of these gay marriage bans have managed to include that part of the deal. And that is where these laws should be exposed as pure discrimination, but because fundamental Christian beliefs are aggressively embedded into this country's moral consciousness like termites in the walls of a decaying house, there just aren't enough people who get it.
Not that I should be surprised. We are, after all, a country with a long history of bigotry. We used to burn women we thought were witches. We used to own slaves. Until 1920, women couldn't vote. And merely a generation ago we were still restricting peoples' rights simply because of the color of their skin. These days, most everyone recognizes that it was pretty fucked up to have laws preventing black people from voting, or make them sit on the back of the bus, etc. But have we really learned anything? Apparently not, because legal discrimination is still taking place all across the country. It's institutionalized homophobia. Sexual apartheid. It's state law saying, in no uncertain terms, "you are a second-class citizen for being gay."
My parents are divorced, so it's easy for me to see that straight people suck at marriage just as much as gay people would. The conservatives, however, will portray the "sanctity of marriage" as something that needs defending. And they're right, it does - only it needs defending from themselves, not gays. With over half of U.S. marriages ending in divorce, and thirty percent of all straight women having reported physical or sexual abuse by their significant others - it seems to me that straight people are doing plenty to ruin the sanctity of marriage on their own.
What makes this all simultaneously funny and infuriating is the increasing evidence that Christian Conservative America - the very source of the ongoing organized attack on gay rights - is secretly home to more steamy gay sex than a San Francisco bath house. These poor bastards let themselves be tormented with their sexuality rather than simply acknowledging that it's just the way they are, and there's nothing wrong with it, and maybe the Bible is a book of parables from a thousand years ago not meant to be taken quite so seriously. You really see how powerful and dangerous religious indoctrination can be when it pits people even against themselves. This recent editorial on the closeted conservatives subject suggests that "One sure measure of any society's psychological well-being lies in its attitude to homosexuality." If that's the case - and I genuinely believe that it is - then America needs a lot of therapy.
Ultimately, there's no difference between a gay marriage having the same rights as a straight marriage, and a black person using the same drinking fountain as a white person. And the fact that more than half of our country can't recognize that makes me wonder if we've made any progress at all since the 1960's. Keep in mind that rallying Christian Conservatives against gay marriage has been one of the key successes of Karl Rove's manipulative strategy with the Bush campaign - and clearly, despite letting some Democrats slip into congress, people are still by and large on Bush's side with this one. You can expect him to use that boon to his advantage as much as possible over the next couple years, because it's all he has left. Things may yet get a lot worse for equal rights in this country before they get better.
(note: this is a continuation of yesterday's entry)
As the world continues to celebrate this week's small but welcome return to common sense in American politics, and liberals everywhere are filled with hope for the future, let us not forget something very important: The American people haven't changed. Sure, a few more of us have finally acknowledged that the Iraq war is a cataclysmic disaster and something needs to be done about it, but beyond that, we're still the same nation bitterly divided between intelligent, rational people and closed-minded simpletons. How else do you explain seven more states voting to ban gay marriage on tuesday? Yes, amidst Democratic victories there were seven losses for common sense, as voters in Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin all decided to actively take away legal rights from a specific group of people.
Strip away whatever you might think about homosexuality for a moment, and really think about that: 20 of the 50 United States - the home of the free, the land of equal rights and opportunity - now have passed laws for the specific purpose of taking away the rights of certain people, purely because they are scared. They're scared of what they don't understand, because their superstitious little brains have been sealed off to other types of identity by a misguided interpretation of a very old book. No, not all homophobia is derived from religious beliefs, but you can be damned sure that Christianity is the driving force behind our country's growing gay discrimination.
I'm not gay, and I'm not some sort of gay rights activist - but this particular issue infuriates me, because it's rooted so wholly in ignorance. There is not one single valid reason in the entire universe why gay people should not be allowed to have every single legal right that straight people do, and to think otherwise is to be wrong. Period. I don't usually say this, but you're simply, unequivocally WRONG if you think that way.
Now, sometimes people will try and pretend that these laws aren't discrimination, because marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman, and we should not redefine it, and if gay people want to have their own marriage but call it something else, that's all well and good. Well, there are a number of problems with that reasoning, but here's the main one: Marriage isn't just some fun little thing that people do when they're in love. It's not just vows and rice and rings and gift registries at Bed Bath & Beyond. It's a legal commitment, recognized by the government, which gives you special rights, tax cuts, etc that couples who are not married do not have access to. So, if you want to save the word "marriage" for the straight couples - if that's really so important - then at the very least you have to introduce a new form of marriage specifically for gay couples that is a recognized legal commitment with the exact same privileges of straight marriage. It's funny how none of these gay marriage bans have managed to include that part of the deal. And that is where these laws should be exposed as pure discrimination, but because fundamental Christian beliefs are aggressively embedded into this country's moral consciousness like termites in the walls of a decaying house, there just aren't enough people who get it.
Not that I should be surprised. We are, after all, a country with a long history of bigotry. We used to burn women we thought were witches. We used to own slaves. Until 1920, women couldn't vote. And merely a generation ago we were still restricting peoples' rights simply because of the color of their skin. These days, most everyone recognizes that it was pretty fucked up to have laws preventing black people from voting, or make them sit on the back of the bus, etc. But have we really learned anything? Apparently not, because legal discrimination is still taking place all across the country. It's institutionalized homophobia. Sexual apartheid. It's state law saying, in no uncertain terms, "you are a second-class citizen for being gay."
My parents are divorced, so it's easy for me to see that straight people suck at marriage just as much as gay people would. The conservatives, however, will portray the "sanctity of marriage" as something that needs defending. And they're right, it does - only it needs defending from themselves, not gays. With over half of U.S. marriages ending in divorce, and thirty percent of all straight women having reported physical or sexual abuse by their significant others - it seems to me that straight people are doing plenty to ruin the sanctity of marriage on their own.
What makes this all simultaneously funny and infuriating is the increasing evidence that Christian Conservative America - the very source of the ongoing organized attack on gay rights - is secretly home to more steamy gay sex than a San Francisco bath house. These poor bastards let themselves be tormented with their sexuality rather than simply acknowledging that it's just the way they are, and there's nothing wrong with it, and maybe the Bible is a book of parables from a thousand years ago not meant to be taken quite so seriously. You really see how powerful and dangerous religious indoctrination can be when it pits people even against themselves. This recent editorial on the closeted conservatives subject suggests that "One sure measure of any society's psychological well-being lies in its attitude to homosexuality." If that's the case - and I genuinely believe that it is - then America needs a lot of therapy.
Ultimately, there's no difference between a gay marriage having the same rights as a straight marriage, and a black person using the same drinking fountain as a white person. And the fact that more than half of our country can't recognize that makes me wonder if we've made any progress at all since the 1960's. Keep in mind that rallying Christian Conservatives against gay marriage has been one of the key successes of Karl Rove's manipulative strategy with the Bush campaign - and clearly, despite letting some Democrats slip into congress, people are still by and large on Bush's side with this one. You can expect him to use that boon to his advantage as much as possible over the next couple years, because it's all he has left. Things may yet get a lot worse for equal rights in this country before they get better.
posted by Rob at 4:05 PM. [ permanent link ]
49 Comments:
What I don't get is that two atheists can be legally married in a non-religious ceremony by a justice of the peace, and nobody says shit... so long as they don't have the same genitals.
So, if the law is saying that marriage is not a religious institution in these cases, why is it suddenly considered to be a religious matter as it applies to gay marriage?
I can almost see where the Christians are coming from being apposed to gays being married in their building by their leaders under their God. But to not allow them to get married and legally recognised as a couple is the equivalent of not letting the black guy in the picture up top not even have a drink at all in way. And don't think that its just America either.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
I actually just wrote about this on my blog.
I also find that people wanting to make English our national language pretty fucked up as well. Seems Americans hate gay people and foreigners.
People don't like to think about the fact that our great nation was built by the hands of undocumented immigrants. Hell, it's happening right now in New Orleans. And how do we repay them? By not paying them at the end of a job well done. Hey, they're illegals. They can't complain. It's all just bullshit to the max.
Well, have you heard about the story on 2 gays, 2 Quebeckers mens who adopted a little boy the last week ? He's only 4-5 yrs old I think ? I don't know exactly the age. Yeah, people found it's very crazy or something else. But between you & me, the homosexuality is most important than love for a child? Of course, the child must have normal parents, a man & a woman but honestly, who can tell me if the child will be not gay in the future & start to wonder himself if he's normal ? I think he'll see always love in 2 mens... An'way, it's my view point.
Rob, yeah, I can understand about marriage who end up by divorce but, I think, it's not because you have divorced parents, you think your marriage (if you make the decision in the future. Who knows?) will end up by a divorce for you too. It depends what kind of guy are you with your girlfriend (of course, what kind of girl she is)& the relationship you have between you & her.
I'm not psychologist or the specialist in the affair but you'll see I can be right.
I had almost given up hope in my beloved state of Arizona. But low and behold it looks like we might be the first state to reject a gay marriage ban!
http://www.azstarnet.com/altds/pastframe/metro/155000
Nice to see mouseart proving babblefish still sucks.
I have to wonder if same-sex marriage bans reflect more about peoples own fears about the changing nature of marriage and families than any overt religiousness on their part.
Besides, Las Vegas was lowering the good name of marriage far before us homos started destroying it with our tawdry want for commitment and equal rights.
Rob, I really enjoy your blog, and since this is a topic I care a lot about I thought I'd take the time to post a response.
First of all, I think you have romanticized anti-americanism. Americans are generally not drooling idiots who don't have the brain power to realize something like fried coke is bad for them. The rankings of the literacy rate and subject knowledge tests need to be placed in context. America is a huge country and the population is more thinly spread than in Europe. Also, unlike most other places in the world, education in America is mostly handled by local school disctricts who have only recently been required to attain any set level of quality in regard to the national level of education. The emphasis of learning in the US is also on learning general knowledge about topics and on participating in class discussions about those topics. In contrast, in Europe and Asia the emphasis in school is on learning lists of facts and not on a broad understanding of the subject matter. These three factors mean that it is less likely that you will go to a high quality school (because schools are small and locally funded), and you are not likely to leave school with encyclopedic knowledge of anything you studied.
Secondly, I would like to tell you that the average American and the average European are equally dumb, and the only real difference is that they have had different ideologies ingrained in them for most of their lives. Most Europeans support socialism and other "progressive" ideologies, but if you ask them to give good reasons they usually can't, because instead of defining themselves as socialist because of a rational support of socialist policy, they say they are socialist only because it is the opposite of American "neo-liberalism". For a look at just how ridiculous and irrational European and "progressive" thinking can be, I suggest "Freedom From America", by Robert Corfe, which echoes many of the sentiments you hear people expressing in Europe (at least in France and the U.K.).
I could go on forever talking about the cultural differences between the US and Europe and how some of them (e.g. high rate of religious belief) should be respected instead of bitterly attacked, but this post is already too long so I'll cut it short and just say it's important to place facts in their proper context and not just say, "Look America is number 62 in literacy! Haha we're so stupid!"
To ash:
I think you should keep in mind that Rob tends to exaggerate in general, probably intentionally. That's why most people, including me, enjoy reading his blog at all.
I don't understand your argument about the US being a huge country where population is more thinly spread over the country than in Europe. Look at the russian literacy rate in the statistics: Russia is number 17 with a rate of 99.6% although the country is even bigger than the US, infrastructure is much worse (some towns can only be reached by sea) and the conditions of climate are harder. You say the lack of a national standard is one reason for bad education and I agree with you on that. But is that an argument for the US being a better country? I don't think so, the opposite is the case. Of course, Americans aren't born dumb, Rob didn't say that. But who is responsible for the lack of a standard? Right, politics. I think that's all Rob wanted to tell us.
You also mentioned that the emphasis of learning in the US was on learning general knowledge and on participating in class discussions and that in Europe and Asia the emphasis in school was on just memorising facts and not understanding. I can only speak about Germany here, but in that case you're totally wrong. Great importance is attached to discussions in German schools, at least in the upper levels of the system (we have a system which is structured by the pupils' capabilities), some school subject, like social sciences, religion or in the higher grades German and English, almost completely consist of reading texts about a certain topic and discussing them. School systems in Europe/the EU aren't as harmonised as economy and so is education in general, the process of harmonisation in university degrees has only just begun. One of the main problem in the American school system for me is that Americans seem to learn almost nothing about the rest of the world. As German, I often heard of Americans thinking Hitler was still our leader. It's really shocking for people over here that there are still so many foreigners (not only in the US) who think so.
Don't get me wrong, we also have discussions about reforming our school system since the so-called "Pisa study" which compared the level of education in several countries. There are a lot of dumb kids here, too. The common problem in the US and Europe is that more and more parents don't care what their children do, that there are too many stupid tv shows which are watched by children and grown-ups and people tend to behave passively and blame someone else for everthing that goes wrong in their life. And this problem mainly exists in the lower classes of society, spreading into the middle class. The education of the upper class remains pretty good, the scissor spreads. This is even enforced by neoliberalism, which takes me to another point you made in your comment:
Yes, there are many people here who romanticise socialism. But it's far away from the majority. And it's because anglo-saxon neoliberalism spread into the minds of our politicians, the national politicians as well as those responsible in the EU. Competition manages everything, that's the fatal philosophy. A good example Rob also wrote about in one of his entry is our public transport. In Germany, the former state railway is meant to go on public. There has been a lot of discussion whether the company, being a stock corporation since '94, should be placed at the stock market as a whole or without its rail network. Rail network is infrastructure and infrastructure has to be provided by the state, not by companies whose only concern is profit and shareholder value. Take a look at Britain's desaster with its railway network. I think public transport should completely remain a matter of the state, because it just isn't profitable to provide it area-wide, but it is the best for society to do so (thinking of the environmental damage done by car traffic). And this is just one example how the country will be ruined if neoliberalistic policy goes on spreading. Think of all the money you can earn without actually being productive, just with hot air ("new economy"). No wonder that our society goes bankrupt as long as most of the money is made by speculation and there are no taxes like the one Tobin suggested on profits gained that way.
You're right, people only romanticise about socialism because it's the opposite of neoliberalism. But I can understand them, although I would never call myself a socialist.
I could go on, but I must leave now. All I wanted to say is that Rob just mentioned facts which prove that the US are not number one in any case and that blind patriotism is stupid. No matter if it is french, german, english or american.
there just aren't enough people who get it.
I disagree, the real problem, is not enough people who do get it go out and vote.
Loved the post.
I'm a Christian, but nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christians should impose their rules onto other people. The whole she-bang in America is mainly because of the combination of fundamental church and state (Republicans) in my opinion.
In fact what the Bible says is to love these 'sinners'. The Christians in those states in America have forgotten the most important thing about Christianity which is to love others, not hate.
you took the words right out of my mouth....thank god i'm canadian.
kay, this comment page is a good example of everything you're talking about, Rob. The whole spectrum.
Anyway, I've been saying this from the beginning: There will come a time when most Americans will look back on banning gay marriage with the exact same amount of shame and horror that we feel at thinking of banning a black and a white from marrying.
I mean really, Christians need to so get over themselves! And all the Republicans need to go "make friends" with their arses. Life doesn't have to be difficult!
I think South Park said it best recently.
"1 in 4 people believe 9/11 was a conspiracy, Kyle. Are you saying that one-fourth of Americans are retarded?"
"Yes, I am saying that one-fourth of Americans are retards."
Stan: "Yeah, at least one-fourth."
i hate to add yet another long-ass comment, but i thought i'd clear something up. the salem witch trials, and possibly similar events elsewhere, may actually have been triggered by infected grains. ergot is a fungal parasite that grows on cereals inclucing rye and wheat. if injested, it can result in vasoconstriction, nausea, seizures, violent vomitting, unconsciousness, and hallucinations. it also shares chemical structural similarity with LSD (and led to it's discovery). the climate around the time of these events was cold and wet, and therefore unsuitable for growing cereals or anything else really. therefore, people had to store old cereals in humid conditions, which were actually ideal for the growth of ergot, and their diet was heavy on these items since not much else was available. the result? entire towns consuming large amounts of ergot-infected breads etc. so basically, it is speculated that both the "witches" and their killers were on drugs, and combined with the sweeping paranoia of the time, went crazy. climatic conditions and the timing of these types of events have been compared elsewhere and on several occasions, similar observations have been made. i don't want to say that what happened wasn't a tragedy, and was not influenced by the misogynistic, superstitious, puritan perspectives prevailing at the time. i am simply putting the event in an environmental context.
ok im from wales and am only 14 so i dont really understand the american thing but wat i do undetsand is the gay marriage argument i think gay people should be allowed to get married i mean who the hell are we to say that becuase people dont fancy a certain type of person they are second to us and shouldnt have the same rights as us?
im sure its not totally the christians churches fault people are agianst gay marriage i dont think they shove there religons down other peoples throats they just belive what there religon and holy book tell them.also some people need to leave rob alone cause hes intitled to free speech and he wasn't havin a go at anyone =]
btw i love the blog ive been readin it for ages =] me and my twin have
xxDani
in virginia, the gay marriage ban was passed as an amendment to the state constitution. it shouldn't have been passed at all, but even if it was, it should have been as a law. constitutions are basic rights: the right to life, liberty, property, pursuit of happiness, etc. Laws are more specific: speed limits, taxes, what to do if a neighbor's tree falls on your lawn.
The definition of marriage does NOT BELONG in a constitution of ANY KIND.
Althought I completely agree with most of your rants on patriotism and America in general, there is just one thing..
You say that the reason why America has voted for the Gay Marriage Ban is because we're close-minded morons - which, in part, may be true. But the largest reason why most people voted for the ban is because if the bill was vetoed and gays were allowed to marry, the cost of benefits that go to every married couple will rise.. and /nobody/ wants to spend more money just to make 14-ish percent of the country happy.
I disagree - although I'm only seventeen, I pay my own bills and I work as much as I can manage (almost twenty to twenty-five hours a week) while still going to school and passing all of my classes. I don't have the money to spend, but I think that if we have to pay for benefits for man-woman marriages then what the hell is the big deal on raising the cost a little to allow homosexuals their rights, as well.
We're fucking America. Land of the free or whatever. If we're the great country we pretend we are, and if we can go spend thousands upon thousands of dollars and kill hundreds upon hundreds of men and women in Iraq just to 'help them out', then why can't we pay a little more to help our own fuckin' country?
I think I'm in love with you Rob. No, seriously, I absolutely agree with everything you say, and you express everything so beautifully...just keep on updating the Blog , it's wonderful.
Thankyou. Not many will say what needs to be said and this need to be said. America really hasnt learned yet what "Equal Rights" means. America has a long way to go in the front of Equal Rights. Sure weve made strides but they should never have had to have been made to begin with. Slavery, females rights to vote, black rights, gay rights, etc. Should never have been an issue. But sadly it was and still is to this day. I hope to see it all go away within my life time but I doubt any of us will. At this rate it will take several generations.
I just wanted to say I love how we're hearing that we have to "protect the sanctity of marriage"
..in a country with DRIVE-THRU WEDDING CHAPELS.
What I find to be pathetic about America is the fact that only 40% of us voted. I was late for my statistics class waiting in line to vote, and when I heard that, I began to wonder.
And I had to vote to do my part in defeating prop. 85 in California.
Also, why can't people mind their own fucking business? In not allowing gays to marry, the populace is keeping the gays from pursuing happiness, a Constitutional right, I believe.
There are a lot of interesting comments here, so I thought I'd give a couple responses.
To Ash - That's a good point about the differences between Europe and the US, and placing those rankings in context. However, mostly I was putting those up to illustrate how far from number one we are in pretty much anything, just to rebuke the whole blind patriotism thing. Whether those rankings are fair or not, people should be concerned about our country, instead of just believing it to be perfect simply because they are patriots.
So, let's forget about the United States as compared to the rest of the world, for a moment. Let's look solely inwards, and we're still a country of idiots. Maybe idiots is a strong word, and as someone else pointed out, I do indeed tend to exaggerate, because it's fun to write that way and I usually write this stuff when I'm all fired up about something. However, I can say from a great deal of hands-on experience traveling across this country that there is an extremely dangerous culture of ignorance and apathy. We place so much value convenience - we want everything quicker, cheaper, and easier. We place a lot of value in making money, in buying better things, in having a bigger car and a bigger house and a bigger everything. Simultaneously, we celebrate ignorance. Sure, our embarrassing public education system attempts to indoctrinate you with the idea that intellectual pursuits are extremely important, but when everything in pop culture is working against that notion, it's a wonder any of end up valuing intelligence. With our role models of Paris Hilton, 50 Cent, or sports stars, for many people the American dream revolves around getting rich in the quickest, easiest, dumbest way possible. Or, it just revolves around sitting in front of a television, growing fatter and more apathetic, saving up for that new plasma TV, and not caring about anything outside your little world.
In either case, what I wish was different about our society is this: I wish we could slow down our culture of convenience. Our culture of bigger, better, now. I wish we could champion knowledge and intelligence as the ultimate means of self-betterment. I wish, as I've previously ranted about, that our celebrities were scientists and astronauts and inventors and thinkers. That there was a widespread cultural motivation to learn and explore. That everything wasn't so rooted in greed.
Now, on that subject... I do believe that greed is a root of evil. And yes, capitalism encourages greed, but I am not a socialist. I think capitalism can work, and greed can be controlled, but it requires a culture that discourages greed. We have an economic system and a culture that work hand-in-hand to promote greed. Compare that to, say, Japan. They have a capitalist society, but when you visit Japan, you will find that their culture - the way they have been raised - leads the average person to a remarkably different way of perceiving life than in America. For example, everywhere you go, there is respect and politeness from everyone. There is a deep sense of care and pride in everything people do, regardless of how menial it might seem. If you go into a tiny little closet-sized noodle shop, the person serving you noodles does so as if he or she is remarkably proud of what they are doing - as if they understand that they are serving an important role in the community, no matter how small, and they are going to do the very best at it they possibly can. Simultaneously, their tiny little noodle shop, old though it might be, is as clean and well-presented as possible, because they take pride in what they do. When they go to work they're not thinking about how their job sucks and they need to find a way to make some money so they can get that new car and that new TV - they're thinking about doing the very best at the job they do. Compare that with going into a fast food restaurant in the states and being greeted with a person who doesn't even look at you as they mumble unintelligibly, "HellawelcataBurgaKincanItakeyaorda?" It's a surprising difference to visit Japan and see how much care people put into everything they do, because respect is part of their culture, and having everything bigger, better, now is not part of their culture.
Imagine if we could have more of that spirit in America, and combine it with a cultural encouragement towards intellectual self-improvement. What's sad is that when teachers try to convince their students to study hard, the motivation is always "you'll make more money if you study hard! You can be rich!" What's sad is that we live in what is known as the "information age," and we're still managing to get dumber. Thanks to the internet, an endlessly vast knowledge base of information, opinions, and resources is at the tip of our fingertips. But has it changed anything? Honestly, is anyone any more informed? Of course not. It's like giving everyone in the country all the textbooks they need to learn everything about the world that they possibly could. Just because they have them, doesn't mean they'll ever read them. Certainly for myself, the internet has proved to be an incredibly powerful tool for knowledge and growth, and has in every way changed my life entirely, and I believe for the better, ever since I logged onto AOL for the first time with my 9600 modem at age 14. But the motivation has to be there to start with. The same people who never had any desire to learn before they got online are the same people who don't have any desire to learn now that they are online. They're the people for whom the internet is nothing more than a fancy TV. It's for YouTube and MySpace and porn - not that I don't use it for those things, but not exclusively. A very smart friend of mine recently said this to me:
"It is seriously fucked to consider the amount of information that is available to us in our generation compared to previous. I can't believe that some people are still letting consumerism completely distract them from the outside world. I think that two separate cultures are emerging from Westernized society right now – basically defined by those who know what's going on and those who don't. Well, the division probably always existed (and I just didn't 'know' about it) but the internet is giving so much power to 'knowers' in a way that minimizes the economic division of knowledge now (since access to knowledge isn't limited to those who can afford academic education) – so long as it remains 'neutral'."
And I think there's some truth in that. It's an interesting thought, anyway.
The bottom line is this: Capitalism and intellectualism are not mutually exclusive. Capitalism and care, respect, and generosity can co-exist. But it starts on a personal level. I think how people are raised, what they're taught, how their parents present the world to them is a huge part of this. Indoctrination is a powerful thing, and those who are stupid tend to breed stupid children - not because of genetics, necessarily, but because stupid people raise their children with stupid ideals. And, as Idiocracy so poignantly suggested, the stupid people are breeding a lot faster than the smart ones. But if our culture as a whole encouraged intellectual pursuits, maybe the pattern could be broken. I'm not a particularly firm believer that it will, but you never know.
If I were to ever become a billionaire - like, Bill Gates mega-rich - I would use every last penny I had to buy an island, and start a private country. I don't know exactly what's involved in starting a country, but I know money talks, so I'd figure it out. This country would be built and developed from the ground up by the smartest thinkers in the world, with the common interest in creating a social and intellectual utopia. It is members only, and although anyone can potentially get in, a rigorous evaluation would be required - psychological, moral, criminal, etc. Economic status is not a factor, simply that you are a good person with a desire to contribute something to society. In this small new private country there would be no cars - a massive, well-planned public transportation system would get you anywhere you needed - and the only streets would be used for walking and bicycling. There would be no organized religion - your spirituality is your own personal affair, and all faiths are equal, and they are not things to be monetized or politicized. If you break a major law (theft, violent crime, etc) and are found guilty by a jury of your peers, you're immediately banned from the country and deported to your country of origin. This wouldn't reach into any extremes - any one of us who abide by the basic laws of society would have no problem with this rule. But there would be harsher-than-usual fines for things like littering, graffiti, etc. There would be no guns - they are carefully kept off the island. City and industry are designed to meet the needs of the environment. Small businesses are encouraged over large corporations. Public education is heavily funded, and developed to be the best in the world. It is a haven for the thinkers, the creators, the innovators of the world. And I'm sure something would come along and destroy it, but it's a nice idea.
People should work together as a society. People should have a desire to improve the world around them. Our culture is too self-centered. And yeah, I'm being hypocritical, because I'm a consumer whore too. I'm frothing at the mouth counting down to Sunday when I get a shiny new Nintendo Wii. We're all consumers. It's a part of our society. But I think I try to balance it with other pursuits, and at the very least the country as a whole could use more of that balance.
One more response, to the person lamenting about only 40 percent of the country voting. Honestly, until we fix our election system, I think even fewer people should vote. Here's why:
We need to get rid of campaign advertising. All of it. What you see on TV advertising candidates and initiatives is such absolutely abhorrent propaganda that the notion of people seeing any of that and making a good, educated choice is beyond absurd. I think campaign financing should be strictly limited, so that all candidates and initiatives have equal opportunities and corporate interests don't have as much influence. It shouldn't be about who has the best marketing, it should be who has the best ideas. There should be televised debates between candidates, and that is where your evaluations should come from. There should be free information available about each candidate, regulated by a non-partisan committee devoted to keeping things strictly in the world of facts Be it smear campaigns or outright lies which dominate elections, it is nearly impossible for the average person to make a balanced and educated choice about anything. I, for example, heard a couple of the terrible prop 87 ads on the radio, and went online to learn more about it. On the internet, I had to search extremely hard to find anything that even resembled a balanced presentation of the facts from either side. It's disgusting and it makes well-informed choices nearly impossible. Whichever side has more money to throw at a campaign, or fights dirtier, tends to win. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on campaigns, purely in the interest of unfairly manipulating peoples' opinions with propaganda. That's a fuck of a lot of money spent swaying peoples' opinions.
Furthermore, the two party system is completely fucked, and turns our elections into football games where people blindly vote for one side because evaluating individual merits is simply too much effort. But my thoughts on the two party system are perhaps for another time.
So anyway, until this whole system is fixed, I'd much prefer our voters to be an educated minority of people who have thoroughly researched what they're voting for, rather than a huge majority who has been exposed to nothing but propaganda. I agree that everyone should care about our country and its future enough to get out and vote, but not if they don't even have the fair opportunity to be properly educated on what they're voting for.
why is it so obvious to us
Even though everyone's said a lot... I take issue with the idea that Europe is either more socialist or more intellectual than America, from my very narrow standpoint of being in the UK. I am a socialist and don't regard it as a dirty word - and I'm fairly well-informed in a way that has been mostly my own doing (and I'm smug about it). I do think capitalism has a corrosive effect on education - or at least this particular form of capitalism, which focuses solely on continual growth. I went to a state school and the brightest people there were only trying to cram things into their heads without examining them, despite the fact that knowledge becomes useless unless it's treated as though it has value. All of my peers say they couldn't care less about their rights, or anyone else's. It's not even that they care about money particularly, it's that they are trying to fit themselves into an extremely inhospitable society that's ultimately only going to induce depression, alcoholism and several forms of cancer in them. I like the utopia, but getting several intellectuals to agree on anything? Not possible.
I like how people complain that marriage is a sacred of bond between the two people involved, while if you look at marriages in the past they were arranged for solely the purpose of treaties and for financial purposes.
It's a good contrast, Rob, bringing up Japan. I lived there as a child for three years (Air Force brat). I tell people that what made the biggest impression on me at the time was how decent, polite and respectful everyone was. As an adult I've gone back and thought over why that might be: it's surely in the culture, it harkens back probably a millenium or more, this idea of respect. It's even more than that, to me; if you study the Japanese language you come to realize early on that respect and politeness are built into the language itself, woven into the society and impossible to escape for the most part. They have their problems too (suicide, glass ceiling for outsiders, xenophobia) but surely there is a powerful lesson to be learned in being a decent human being during day to day actions.
Oh, can I live on your island? :^)
Todd from my space: divineinvasion
You've said it, I've said it, we've all said it: the majority of the population of this country is jaw-droppingly stupid. Not just ignorant and bigoted, but flat-out fucking lacking in common sense and the most basic academic skills. Sure, they're probably pretty dumb in other countries, too, but I don't live in them and have to listen to the ignorance every day.
I blame all this shit on stupid, stupid parents. My parents were smart - book smart, street smart, morally smart. Thus, their genes created two children with the potential to be bright. We were raised with an emphasis on education, achievement/success, and designing your own moral code (you know, one that wasn't arbitrarily cobbled together by half-assed Bible interpretations). Intelligent parents can mold small, dopey kids into independent open-minded adults. Stupid parents will very rarely do anything but create an unholy clone of him/herself, complete with the same racism, homophobia, ignorance, and lack of interest in being an informed citizen.
I will never, ever, fucking ever understand how some people do not WANT to be smarter. They do not actively seek out new information. What the hell? Fuck, I'm on the waaaaaaay right side of the bell curve, and I'm constantly berating myself for not continuing to learn German and Italian, and not going to more art exhibits, and not reading more newspapers. How can people not care that they're stupid? How can they not want to fix that as much as they possibly can?
I've given up, because people are not going to get smarter. It is going to get so much worse, and I don't think I can handle it. Rob, I'm going to buy the island next to yours (because of my Schizoid Personality Disorder and all), and I'm sure you'll let me come visit you in your utopia. You'll always be welcome in mine, and I'm sure you'll come visit often because I plan on having a dual brewery/distillery on mine. Geniuses need booze, too!
P.S. I am hoping the U.S. holds out on the gay marriage thing a little longer. Seriously, I'm totally broke and can't afford to buy more wedding gifts. Shit.
I agree with you. That is the American society that everybody fears and rejects. The society that encourages the war (death)in the name of freedom and God.
I'm afraid of those americans.
These last two entries were killer. You should write more. I was disappointed when I came to the end of your archives, some funny, some cynical, some bitchy, but all pretty good.
It's really nice to see someone expressing their viewpoint intelligently without attempting to preach or working in some sort of evil conspiracy.
America. Fuck yeah.
I think that America is trying to control the people... we are suppose to be a "free"country!!! where is the "free" part? We are not a "free" country. There are a lot of people "in power" that make all of our decisions. We cannot make the decision to marry one person (without permission from our government), cannot openly speak of your religious beliefs (unless they are what the government wants us to believe in). I think it is very sad that we are considered a FREE country when the only thing free is our dreams... which really is the only thing our government cannot controll!!!! We are able to be free thinkers, however; we are not allowed to act on all of our thoughts?? It is NOT RIGHT that it is left to the government (which reads a book ~bible~)to determine the person each of us may or may not spend our lives with legally under the rights of our country. I am not a believer of the christian faith, nor the government system that our country has... I am not gay....BUT... I feel that all people no matter sexual preferance, color or sex should ALL have the exact same rights no matter what... and those who think differently are SELFISH ASSHOLES!!!!!
I do not mean to offend anyone, however; it angers me terribly the way our country treats people due to fear or the fact that they choose to be ignorant... GET EDUCATED on things you do not understand completely. Learn the differences in people that alternately make us all the same in the end...HUMAN! Those of you who are "devout christians" PLEASE... why not read up on how your religion was formed... read the history of ALL religions, educate yourselves on different aspects of religious beliefs... you may just surprise yourselves.
If we're considering whether or not it's okay for gays to marry, consider NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association), who believe men and boys should be able to have consensual sexual relationships. I assure you, they're next up. Where do you draw the line? You have to draw one somewhere. Who decides, and why? Do you deny NAMBLA their cause because pedophilia is wrong and disgusting? What if your kids' generation decides pedophilia is okay? Is pedophilia disgusting and wrong, but gay marriage is okay? Who decided that? You? On what basis?
Any of the arguments previously posted here can be used to defend NAMBLA, or euthanasia, or anything else currently viewed as abhorrent. (One note on euthanasia: if "death with dignity" becomes a right, I guarantee you that insurance companies and health care orgs will deny coverage in the advanced stages of illness in order to keep costs down, in effect taking the decision from us and making it themselves. They won't let you keep Grandma alive as long as possible.)
My position is that society is adrift without a compass. Society will legitimize whatever people want, not what is right. I want to bang whoever I want? Make it legal. It's like Congress voting themselves a pay raise. Society will rationalize and justify doing whatever people want to do, whatever animal lust needs satiating. Wrong becomes right because I want to do it. The inherent value of "wrong" and "right" is gone.
You know what "t1ernd0g," you're absolutely right. We're losing our grip on right and wrong. We lost it a long time ago, when we started letting women vote, and weren't able to own slaves anymore, and started accepting homosexuals as actual people instead of abominations of the Lord, right? That's essentially what you're saying. No, t1ernd0g, we're not losing our grip on right and wrong, Christian Republican straight white males are losing their ability to dictate what's right and wrong in this country, and it scares the shit out of them (you).
To try and relate gay marriage to NAMBLA is pure bigotry. Your Christian faith tells you that homosexuality is a choice - well tell that to all those closeted gay pastors who have struggled their entire life with what they felt inside versus what they thought their Big Book Of Truths was telling them was okay. The difference between gays and pedophiles is (among many other things) that being gay is NOT a choice, and it is widely believed (by SCIENTISTS, not by religious organizations) that people are born gay. Pedophilia, meanwhile, is a psychological condition developed through experiences in a person's life. Those people need help, and they can be helped (although personally, I think our society has demonized them to a point where they don't even have the opportunity to get help anymore, but that's a different subject). Oh, and pedophilia is also related to hurting children, while being gay has nothing to do with hurting anyone. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that given all the recent evidence, maybe being a white "straight" Christian male has a lot more to do with the activities of NAMBLA than being gay does.
The idea that people just want to "bang whoever they want" and that's what homosexuality is all about is insane. Equating sexual orientation with morality is dangerous territory, because it forces you, the pious one, to take a look in the mirror at your own sexual orientation, and your own religion, and wonder just how moral it really is. All we have to do is look to history, where HANDS DOWN, the most immoral acts have been committed by straight, white, religious men. So to come from a society that once OWNED other people as SLAVES, and say that NOW we've lost our morality because we might let two people who love each other get married - that's some pious, arrogant shit right there.
Personally, I'm extremely socially liberal, completely desensitized, love to stir up shit, and hate a lot of things about humanity. However, at my core I'm one of the most moral people you'll ever meet. I love swearing - I fucking love it - but I make a point to never do it around children, or even in public places where it would be considered inappropriate. I love gory movies and violent video games, but I abhor the idea of actually hurting other people, or committing crimes against other people. I'm fascinated with sexual depravity, with the darker side of the human psyche, but I don't think it should appear on prime time TV. I think bad parenting should be a crime, and that being a really good parent is the single most important thing anyone could do with their life. I think, probably like you do, that our culture has sold its soul, that media sends out all the wrong messages, that we've traded in the innocence of our children for easy profits. But I don't think any of that has anything to do with homosexuals being accepted alongside everyone else. I think you're picking the wrong battle. I think we as a society have many battles of morality to fight, and the gays - most of them more moral than straight people - should be fighting right alongside us.
Right and wrong, to me, is about how we as a society treat each other, and how we treat our children. Attacking love two people feel for each other in a way that does no harm to you or me or anyone else in the world is attacking the fabric of right and wrong itself. It's a step backward, not a step forward.
wow that is alot of comments,
Here is the simplist argument;
The 17th amendment.
It Protects Ones RIGHT to LIFE, LIBERTY, and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
TO Ban Gay marriage is a infringment of gay peoples constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness, AND they being married infringes no one elses life, liberty of pursuit of happiness, so CHECK MATE.
The 17th Amendment ALSO recognizes CORPORATIONS AS LEGAL PERSONS.
So riddle me this,
If a corporation, having no body, and therefore no sex, can join its financial holdings and legal statises with another corporation (a MERGER) than is it not DISCRIMINATION to NOT permit other legal persons who have bodies and sexes the right to join their financial holdings and legal statises in a simular "Merger" i.e. Marriage?
I am always amazed that I have NEVER ONCE heard any activist or legislator use this simple clear cut argument.
And to the dumb ass "t1ernd0g", your argument about pediphelia has no standing due to current law. The ones that cover all sex with minors (Stachatory rape)!!!
As I am sure there are just as many men that would love it to be perfectly legal to fuck 14 yr old girls, that is why those laws are on the books. SO it has NO WEIGHT in the discussion on GAY rights. IDIOT.
Wow Rob, you serious got a HUGE turnout w/ the super-Lefty column you wrote, though i think yee'll missing the truth.
You young kids can be for or against gay marriage all you want. But that's not the real problem.
tip- go to google or youtube and type in AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM, it's the scariest movie ever "makes Micheal Moore's movie look like Bambi" and it will rock your Liberal or Conservative world forever.
See Ya!
I've even heard this:
Some sects of Buddhism embrace/allow gay marriage. To deny their right to marry is to deny their first amendment right, is it not?
Also, dave2, very interesting point.
U poor down trodden middle class hedonistic juveniles and more concerningly post juveliles with too much time on your hands are forgetting the true meaning of life - TRUE marriage and kids.
(BTW forgive me I like to genralise)
Only the cold hearted, sick, bitter or twisted, materialistic, hedonistic, those that think cats/dogs are a substitute for kids, the gay arsed, and out of touch with reality deny it.
The vast world wide huge majority who have had children, including those giving birth to many of the pro marriage abuse posters here, will agree and tell you what the true meaning of life and marriage is all about, something that will never be substitued by pokemon of nintendo.
BTW I know there are bad parents out there as many as there are nasty gays.
Apologies to those MIXED COUPLES who would love kids but physically cant have them but a loving DUAL SEX marriage supported by decent adoption laws and anti abortion legislation would see every willing MIXED couple being able to partake in the TRUE JOY of marriage, without endangering the children.
Dont even try to tell me a good/bad gay union is substitute
for a good/bad normal marriage you bitter underminers of society. The excuse that there are abusive marriages some involving alcahol and drug abuse in mixed marriages is at any greater extent when compared to open slather gay union and accompanying child custody is absolute rot.
Ill bet you promiscurity and drug usage is greater among gays than the general populace any day. "Married" or otherwise.
My wife & I went 40 years thinking i would never have kids but a miracle was born (without intervention) and I now realize the TRUE gift of God and what life IS all about. One day Rob youll either find the truth too or live in some quasi intellectual denial.
Rob we live in a life more devoid of morals every day, dont participate in the degredation you like to condemn, your arguement about legal rights is lame. Let the gays have a gayridge, an SGU (same genital union), an uncivil onion, whatthefuckever, dont call it marriage, changing marriage laws is proven harder than introducing NEW gaylegslation. The driving force is those trying to UNDERMINE TRUE marriage. LET US NORMAL ONES BE, go for your own "union" with the same legal rights, dont shit on the ONCE honoured institute of marriage AND its TRUE meaning.
BTW does this "anti Gayridge" comment make me pro slavery Rob?
Maybe a NEO NAZI even?
Tony
What a joke erin k
that arguement surely is simple
are you condoning happiness as a pursuit in itself no matter the outcome, no matter what damage is incurred achieving it - like continued damage to the frame work of society - the FAMILY. Fucking chickens makes some people happy, lets facilitate that by quoting the constitution shall we.
there is a moral element here - your and others simplistic focus on legal ramification is rediculous. Push your gays cause and get another union with equal legal rights to marriage and call it something else, or simply push de facto raltions for gays and associated rights. Dont piss in the various churches and couples pockets. Youd probably find a lot less resistance. The push to undermine marriage is just evidence of your own prejudices that you want to thrust down the throats of the the majority, all the more pummelling traditions that got u where you are today.
Your poetic licence with the 17th constitution and its intent is absolutely rediculous, as are the rediculous laws of the US and other western nations that are devised to "tolerate" falsehood and see the wealthy and powerfull rise above common sense and the common man. I suppose you believe in a stock market that enables one to pursue happiness through wealth accumulation by buying say rio tinto stocks at the expense of displacing whole peoples and the ruination of thier environments so u can be happy making a quick buck.
Ill agree with you on one point:
your arguement sure is simplistic
Tony
Damn Rob. It amazes me that even you seem to care about the world in some sense. You have all of that materialism and luxury at your disposal and yet you still seem to whine about your world. Indulge in it, stop giving a shit, you have what many other people do not. :)
I'm still amazed at how many people are aware of what is going on in the world yet we are incapable of stopping it.
Let's face it, nobody is truly right or wrong about anything. We live in a world with apparent meaning, and meaninglessness. Our morals which we believe are simply that, things we believe. We should all know that our senses are deceptive and that our paradigms are limited from understanding any absolute truth. That's what makes us human. Contradictions, opposition, and destruction. Belief in right from wrong. Our minds are too preoccupied with things like morals and beliefs, that we don't stop to think about what the future holds. We are automated. We need to be distracted from being sentient, logical beings. I think that in some way, humanity subconsciously created this for itself. The desire to escape from reality, to create a utopia for future generations. This is why we have all of the propaganda we see on TV, telling us things, to keep us nullified. It keeps us in check, afraid of the unknown, and mostly obedient.
mongler.richard@gmail.com
Hey, Rob, I admire you and all, but I must point something out about Japan.
Um...this is a society that draws cartoons of little girls having sex, invaded other countries, and (most recently and least importantly) name a gaming console "Wii", which should have sent up red flags to everyone in marketing.
To those who associate gay marriage with NAMBLA and beastiality and all that other "slippery slope" nonsense, WTF?!
Yes, we homosexuals (being a lesbian myself I find this particularly infuriating) should have to answer to adults molesting children and people having sex with their dogs (that coming from another very similar argument I've encountered). Yeah, I can see how they're totally the same thing. How can I be so blind.
Yes I am talking to you, t1ernd0g. Because after all two adults having consensual sex is the exact thing as having sex with a minor . . . because those two adults have the same genatalia. That's a very logical point to make after all.
Know what? You're absolutely right. If we give the gays the right to marry, men WILL be able to marry little boys next. And their pets. Because after all, it's common knowledge that children can sign legally-binding contracts themselves, right?
I hope you're picking up on the sarcasm.
Also you're getting "sexual orientation" confused with "fetish". I personally was a virgin until I met the woman I'm with now, and we're still together.
My experience with being gay in this country has sucked. I've known I liked other girls since I was 10 or 11. I'm also from Missouri. So whilst in the confusion of contemplating my sexuality, I got force-fed how being gay was unnatural and wrong (by people much like yourself). And because of my age, I believed it. So I just "played straight" through my teens hoping it was some sort of learned behavior.
So yeah, you sit there on your hill and talk about how we make laws to "justify who we want to bang". After all I'm willing to bet you didn't grow up thinking there was something horribly wrong with you, did you?
Anyway, sorry to get preachy at the end. I've enjoyed your blog for a good while, Rob. I just haven't commented until now. It was either that or put my fist through the screen after reading some of these comments.
To the not-so-anonymous person named Tony:
Voltaire once said, "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it."
Which is pretty much what I would NORMALLY parrot in regards to anyone's post(s), especially since I have nothing witty to contribute to the spark of conversation that just struck up here.
But that great masterpiece you posted earlier? For some reason, I really can't bring myself to keep my mouth shut, because I find your whole rant pointless and to some degree, mentally insulting.
In fact, I think I'll stoop to your level so you can understand what I'm about to say.
Yeah, you CAN disagree with some of the lefties commenting on here, but calling the lot of us "poor down trodden middle class hedonistic juveniles" just because you don't agree/can't comprehend half of what was in Rob's post is rather hypocritical.
By the way, what the fuck is TRUE marriage, anyway? If you think you can come up with a better answer than dictionary.com, then please, elaborate.
Also, is drug usage really greater among gays? Wow...that's news to me! Where's the proof in THAT pudding, fucktard? Don't just spout out half-assed commentary like that without backing them up with solid facts.
No wait...scratch that. You CAN spout out half-assed commentary and post dumb statements whenever you want to (it's the internet, go figure), but do realize that you'll just end up being laughed at by some of us, who actually understand (and appreciate) good satire.
"wow that is alot of comments,
Here is the simplist argument;
The 17th amendment.
It Protects Ones RIGHT to LIFE, LIBERTY, and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
TO Ban Gay marriage is a infringment of gay peoples constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness, AND they being married infringes no one elses life, liberty of pursuit of happiness, so CHECK MATE.
The 17th Amendment ALSO recognizes CORPORATIONS AS LEGAL PERSONS. "
The 17th amendment says that Senators shall be directly elected by the people. What the heck is this all about? I may agree with the point you're trying to make, but do not blatantly misrepresent the truth.
This is a beautiful essay, and as a gay man I can't thank you nearly enough.
Rob, the clarity with which you write about this touchy subject matter and the genuine integrity that you show deserves many accolades. At first glance, it is frightening to even contemplate that 21st century America would deny a significant portion of its citizens the right to legal marriage, but in retrospect when one considers that only in the last century has the country given equal rights to women and non-white ethnicities, a banning of marriage for homosexuals unfortunately does not seem at all far-fetched.
What IS far-fetched is the notion that the Christian fundamentalists would take their heads out of the proverbial sand, take a step back, and witness the sheer hypocrisy of their actions and in turn, subsequently attempt to amend the wrongs of their actions. Make no mistake, Rob is absolutely on the mark when he says that anti-gay discrimination is fueled by conservative Christians, and one peek at the opponents to homosexual marriage (Focus on Family, Alliance Defense Fund, etc) and their goals would prove their true disingenuous intent.
It absolutely infuriates me whenever I hear about these religious zealots claiming to be victimized and being called bigots when they're "merely" trying to protect marriage or protect the children, yet completely fail to grasp the idea that denying the right of legal marriage to two consenting adults [whom are not closely related] is, after everything is said and done, pure unadulterated bigotry. Really, when convicted felons of the straight sexual orientation is granted access to legal marriage, the whole morality and "child safety" argument crumbles.
The little solace that I have left is that I can at least do my part and vote these ignorant douchebags out of California come November, and [ironically and figuratively] pray that the rest of the country follows suit, just like when California voted down the ban on interracial marriages, ironically to the chagrin of Christians whom argued that the sanctity of marriage was for "one white man and one white woman."
/end rant
As long as( WE ALLOW )The US goverment To keep us in groups.
THEY WIN!!!
enough said
By AMERICAN no-hyphens
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