Illogical arguments
I was watching The Daily Show last night where Jon Stewart had former Bible thumping presidential candidate Mick Huckabee.
A lot of time was spent arguing his asinine position on gay marriage, how his stance completely contradicts other things he has said (such as all men are created equally). In this midst of this debate, Huckabee stated that, "Marriage is not a right, its a privilege." Unfortunately, Jon Stewart didn't press him to elaborate on that particular point, I wish that he had because it continues to annoy me.
Its a privilege, is it? And how exactly do you figure that it is? How is it treated like a privilege except when denying it to people you don't like?
Driving is a privilege. Its a privilege because its something I have to earn. I can't just go out and hop behind the wheel of a car and expect this will be okay. I have to prove that I should be allowed to drive, that I have no handicaps that will impair my abilities (and no, stupidity and abject douchebaggery are not handicaps, maybe they should be but currently they are not), in some places I have to take classes, I have to pass tests that I understand the rules of the road and that I can operate a vehicle moderately well. Only then am I allowed the privilege of driving and even then I still have to check in periodically, to show I still know what I'm doing, and at any point in time if I break the rules the privilege can be revoked.
No similar thing exists for marriage. If I wanted to, right now I could walk outside my apartment, find some random guy off the street and the two of us could decide to get married, and we could fucking do it. In some states we could do it in the time it takes to drive to the chapel. We don't need to justify our desire to marry, we don't need to go through an approval process, don't need to prove that we know each other or love each other, that we would ever last as a couple (or that we would make good parents, considering that with people like Huckabee you'd think the sole purpose for marriage is babies, babies, babies), or that we've even really thought this through. At most, we'd have to prove we're not related and we're not already married to other people and in some states not even that, and then its green light all the way no further questions asked.
Hell, it is more complicated to get out of a marriage then it is to get into one (less so now, but you did used to have to really prove your case if you wanted to leave, and if you didn't you were stuck). If anything, its divorce that's the privilege.
Something can't just be privilege when you want to deny it to other people, when you want to discriminate against a minority group. And when you want to argue that a group of people don't deserve certain rights (and marriage is and shall remain a right so long as any straight couple can get married anytime they want to, so long as straight people can get hitched in the middle of a weekend bender in Vegas to someone they just met) your arguments need to have more internal logic and consistency than this does.
Pity Huckabee didn't also get to explain why, since he does believe being gay is a "lifestyle choice," assuming even that it is, why it doesn't deserve to be recognized and protected when something like religion, the ultimate lifestyle choice that few can logically argue is not a choice (though I've heard it before chalked up there with being black as something you can't control *eyeroll*), is and apparently should be.
This interview was way too short.
A lot of time was spent arguing his asinine position on gay marriage, how his stance completely contradicts other things he has said (such as all men are created equally). In this midst of this debate, Huckabee stated that, "Marriage is not a right, its a privilege." Unfortunately, Jon Stewart didn't press him to elaborate on that particular point, I wish that he had because it continues to annoy me.
Its a privilege, is it? And how exactly do you figure that it is? How is it treated like a privilege except when denying it to people you don't like?
Driving is a privilege. Its a privilege because its something I have to earn. I can't just go out and hop behind the wheel of a car and expect this will be okay. I have to prove that I should be allowed to drive, that I have no handicaps that will impair my abilities (and no, stupidity and abject douchebaggery are not handicaps, maybe they should be but currently they are not), in some places I have to take classes, I have to pass tests that I understand the rules of the road and that I can operate a vehicle moderately well. Only then am I allowed the privilege of driving and even then I still have to check in periodically, to show I still know what I'm doing, and at any point in time if I break the rules the privilege can be revoked.
No similar thing exists for marriage. If I wanted to, right now I could walk outside my apartment, find some random guy off the street and the two of us could decide to get married, and we could fucking do it. In some states we could do it in the time it takes to drive to the chapel. We don't need to justify our desire to marry, we don't need to go through an approval process, don't need to prove that we know each other or love each other, that we would ever last as a couple (or that we would make good parents, considering that with people like Huckabee you'd think the sole purpose for marriage is babies, babies, babies), or that we've even really thought this through. At most, we'd have to prove we're not related and we're not already married to other people and in some states not even that, and then its green light all the way no further questions asked.
Hell, it is more complicated to get out of a marriage then it is to get into one (less so now, but you did used to have to really prove your case if you wanted to leave, and if you didn't you were stuck). If anything, its divorce that's the privilege.
Something can't just be privilege when you want to deny it to other people, when you want to discriminate against a minority group. And when you want to argue that a group of people don't deserve certain rights (and marriage is and shall remain a right so long as any straight couple can get married anytime they want to, so long as straight people can get hitched in the middle of a weekend bender in Vegas to someone they just met) your arguments need to have more internal logic and consistency than this does.
Pity Huckabee didn't also get to explain why, since he does believe being gay is a "lifestyle choice," assuming even that it is, why it doesn't deserve to be recognized and protected when something like religion, the ultimate lifestyle choice that few can logically argue is not a choice (though I've heard it before chalked up there with being black as something you can't control *eyeroll*), is and apparently should be.
This interview was way too short.