The 'Debate' On Gay Marriage
Texas Senator John Cornyn yesterday on the floor of the Senate:
It does not affect your daily life very much if your neighbor marries a box turtle. But that does not mean it is right....Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife.
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Who is this guy?
Sam Felder is a web designer and occasional writer in Los Angeles, CA.
Born in Washington, DC, Sam and his family moved to Peoria, IL, where he grew up and went to school. He returned to DC in 2003 and left for the west coast in late 2005.
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- Sam tweeted, "I don't think tonight's presidential debate could possibly have had less substance: http://tinyurl.com/6arb64" Sam tweeted, "I don't think tonight's presidential debate could possibly have had less substance: http://tinyurl.com/6arb64" Sam tweeted, "I don't think tonight's presidential debate could possibly have had less substance: http://tinyurl.com/6arb64" 2008-04-17T05:58:45Z 2008-04-17T05:58:45Z
- Sam is attending IxDA-SF Presents: Matt Jones, "Playfulness in Design" at odopod Sam is attending IxDA-SF Presents: Matt Jones, "Playfulness in Design" at odopod Sam is attending IxDA-SF Presents: Matt Jones, "Playfulness in Design" at odopod 2008-04-16T21:30:19Z 2008-04-16T21:30:19Z
- Sam tweeted, "slowly getting better at making espresso. still terrible at foaming soymilk..." Sam tweeted, "slowly getting better at making espresso. still terrible at foaming soymilk..." Sam tweeted, "slowly getting better at making espresso. still terrible at foaming soymilk..." 2008-04-16T18:00:06Z 2008-04-16T18:00:06Z
April 15
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April 12
- Sam tweeted, "biking in SF makes me want terrain view in google maps on the iPhone. These hills are serious!" Sam tweeted, "biking in SF makes me want terrain view in google maps on the iPhone. These hills are serious!" Sam tweeted, "biking in SF makes me want terrain view in google maps on the iPhone. These hills are serious!" 2008-04-13T01:52:25Z 2008-04-13T01:52:25Z
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April 10
- Sam tweeted, "Making plans for a great weekend up in SF. The weather is going to be great and I plan to spend as much of it outside as possible." Sam tweeted, "Making plans for a great weekend up in SF. The weather is going to be great and I plan to spend as much of it outside as possible." Sam tweeted, "Making plans for a great weekend up in SF. The weather is going to be great and I plan to spend as much of it outside as possible." 2008-04-11T01:34:18Z 2008-04-11T01:34:18Z
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April 9
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April 7
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- Sam tweeted, "I dreamt that it was suddenly May and I had forgotten to file my taxes. Is it a sign that I should stop procrastinating?" Sam tweeted, "I dreamt that it was suddenly May and I had forgotten to file my taxes. Is it a sign that I should stop procrastinating?" Sam tweeted, "I dreamt that it was suddenly May and I had forgotten to file my taxes. Is it a sign that I should stop procrastinating?" 2008-04-03T17:04:20Z 2008-04-03T17:04:20Z
April 2
- Sam is attending Street Hacks and Long Wows - An Evening with Chipchase, Burns, and Schauer at Adaptive Path Sam is attending Street Hacks and Long Wows - An Evening with Chipchase, Burns, and Schauer at Adaptive Path Sam is attending Street Hacks and Long Wows - An Evening with Chipchase, Burns, and Schauer at Adaptive Path 2008-04-03T07:23:27Z 2008-04-03T07:23:27Z
I had to read it three times. This is priceless in a very sad way.
Love your blog!
Ok, my English reached its limit. What's a box turtle? A square shaped turtle?
I suspected, and I was correct...
The Good Sen. has a law degree from St.
Mary's College of San Antonio, and a
Master of Laws from University of Virigina
He also was a *judge* and he brought
before SCOTUS the "right to pray before
football games" case as Atty. General.
I am rapidly losing faith in ABA
accreditation processes and Bar admissions.
Only problem is, Cornyn never said that remark about turtles. He certainly didn't say it on the Senate floor - you won't find it in there anywhere. The Post ran a correction the next day, and Andrew Sullivan retracted it. Read a clarification here.
I recently had the pleasure of serving as a delegate to General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for More Light Presbyterians (a group dedicated to the full inclusion of GLBT folks into the life of the church, such as in ordination to ministry, the recognition of GLBT families and so on). Needless to say (Yet I\x82\xC4\xF4m saying it anyway, I guess.) marriage between two folks of the same sex came up. For a week and a half I was subjected to arguments that either directly related same sex marriage to tooth crunchingly unlikely (and just plain silly) unions or constructed absurd slippery slope scenarios. My personal favorite was the assertion that legal gay marriage would place \x82\xC4\xFAwestern civilization\x82\xC4\xF9 on a path ultimately culminating in a man entering into joyous matrimony with a dog. When confronted with this fiddlefaddle I\x82\xC4\xF4m both enraged and bemused. On one hand I\x82\xC4\xF4m amazed at the ease dehumanizing claptrap flows from some lips. On the other, such obfuscating rhetoric shows how few merits anti gay marriage arguments have when they are\x82Ķum\x82Ķactually applied to gay marriage. Perhaps I\x82\xC4\xF4m wrong. Perhaps the real danger actually IS the teaming mass of people who\x82\xC4\xF4re betrothed to dogs, turtles, cats, park benches, cash registers, paperweights, dictionaries, coffee mugs, BMWs, butter, barnyards and broken table legs. Can you comprehend the overwhelming amount of chaos that would cause in our society? How does an expired coupon for tomato juice get fitted for a tux?! Yep, if gay marriage is legally recognized and the very next day half the people I sell wine to are married to their neckties I\x82\xC4\xF4ll feel\x82Ķjust plain silly.
I was watching this on Tv just ten minutes ago. The only reason I can think of to oppose gay marriage is if you see marriage as a religious institution. If marriage is (for whatever reason) tightly defined as 'man + woman', then anything which isn't man + woman cannot be marriage, and calling it marriage may lead to offense or other complications.
Now, (oddly enough) religious people who find gay marriage offensive because it makes a mockery of something they hold sacred have a point. It's a bit like me taking a dump in their holy font, or going around pulling the veils off Islamic women.
The problem with this approach is that marriage is not just a religious institution - it is also a legal arrangement. If Senator Cornyn said the thing that he apparently didn't say, it shows that he objects to marriage because he doesn't want gay couples to have the same legal rights as straight ones - and -that- is subjugation of people based on their sexual alignment.
My solution is to properly separate the legal and religious concepts of marriage (one for you, Sam?) so that gay people can get the legal benefits of wedlock without hugely offending the religious types who view marriage as sacred and unchangeable.
Or at least, that would be my solution if I really thought -anyone- was against gay marriage because it offended them religiously. As far as I can see, people are against gay marriage because they're small-minded bigots who never stop to examine their own life and yet rise up in moral outrage at the thought that their way of life might not be perfect for everyone.