Mr. Sensitive's Rebuttal:
Il,
First of all, I'm not condemning anyone; I'm correcting them. In your world, "truth" equals "condemnation"? So anyone who disagrees with you is condemning you? >Pause< Anywho...
Jesus Christ said very specifically that marriage was to be between one man and one woman, so you can spare me the dismissive, merit-free polygamy and incest arguments stemming from the Old Testament. If you have something to say based in the New Testament, you go right ahead.
To answer your question about atheists and marriage, I say they should go to the courthouse and get civil union contracts since God is irrelevant to them. When people ask them about the status of their relationship, they can say something witty like, "We're legal..." or, "We've been legal for five years now..." If they want some kind of ceremony, they can go all out at a beach or ballroom somewhere and make all the promises to each other that they want.
BUT that's just my personal opinion. Obviously, there is no discrimination taking place against atheists getting married because there is nothing in the Bible that says God must be recognized for their marriage to be legal. There is also nothing in the Bible that says God won't bless marriages that deny Him His rightful place.
And it sounds nothing like the discrimination experienced by slaves, Catholics, Jews, or the Irish because gays have had the opportunity to achieve equal legal status if they want it. The fact of the matter is that they want the social acceptance at the expense of everything else. If you don't recognize the Pandora's box being opened through this process of legalization, you are blind. If you take the cap off, you can't put it back on.
But you have a point that abortion is one issue most gays don't have to deal with. You completely missed the point, but you made one. The fact of the matter is that you are undoubtedly for reproductive choice (which has resulted in the murder of 40 million defenseless babies), but you will scream bloody murder because a whopping 6 million people (out of 287 million) can't have a label and force religious institutions to recognize them. Boo hoo.
And while gay couples may not have to deal with abortion, you may be interested to know that in one of the first failed gay marriages, the spurned partner is now trying to gain custody of the biological child of her former love. Tell me, how twisted do you want it all to get?
Wow. What you've "always" wanted to ask me... I've really cherished our lengthy relationship. "Always" began on October 21st. It went by so fast. It seems like only a couple of weeks ago. Oh wait. It was...
Why am I on a 15-year-old's xanga? Because I am called to minister and speak truth to the high school-aged youth of the world. I found her when I did a search of liberal blog rings, and I took the time to comment on her xanga because I recognized her as someone who is obviously intelligent and opinionated. I chose to challenge some of her assertions. That is why I have occasionally commented. For my sanity, I am not a consistent reader or subscriber to her xanga...
But to answer your original question... "how does it affect me?" When you tear at the institution that preceded government- the same one that happens to be the foundation of civil society- I find myself and my family affected. When you understand the legal ramifications of allowing gay marriage and realize it can only lead to legalized polygamy, the end of statutory rape laws, and most likely the end of laws banning incestuous marriages, you understand that it affects you. When you recognize that the healthiest home for children is one in which there is a mother and a father, you recognize that it affects you. When you see the mainstreaming and whitewashing of the homosexual lifestyle, which does not promote monogamy (contrary to propagandized opinion), you feel the effects.
In closing (because I won't be writing again), I want to say that I take the time out of my busy life (make time actually) because I care about you young folk. I want you to know the truth, happiness, and joy that I didn't know at your age.
But I'm going to go now, Ridge. I hope you learn to practice the same tolerance you defend so fervently.
Oh, by the way, I didn't put anyone down. I just asked simple, rhetorical questions and backed up my views with more than emotion and sentimentality.
Jesus saves.
... Oh no he didn't... Bitch, I grew up in a household of angry black latinas who all got on the same cycle, so I know how to argue and I know when the arguement is over, so I replied:
Mr. Sensitive,
Though you may or may not see this, I’m still writing this because I feel I need to voice my opinion. First of all, I would like to say that I found it funny how you criticized my wording; obviously that proves my point that you do derive pleasure in correcting the simple mistakes in others - very mature.
When I mentioned condemnation in my response, I meant the Christian religion in general, which undeniably has, in fact, condemned people in to eternal damnation in one way or another according to Christian law. And also I found it funny how you said you were correcting people and not condemning people. So in your world “different” equals “wrong”? Interesting. Just like how you mentioned Christ’s opinion on marriage, which again proves my point that you so obviously missed, that as times change, what is sociably acceptable changes, and as it was sociably acceptable to marry one’s sibling, or an underage minor, it is now unacceptable to do the above actions.
Also, you contradicted yourself when you said that your god does not have to be acknowledged in order for a marriage to be consummated. If that is the case, then that also proves my point that marriage is not of a religious institution but of a cultural one, and therefore should be legalized for homosexual marriage.
If you’re concerned about what Pandora’s Box may be opened, consider that an even bigger Pandora’s Box may be that of intolerance and laws being passed in the Constitution abridging the Civil Rights of a person based on bigotry. And also when you tried to discredit me on my Slave/Catholic/Jewish connection, you again, missed my point. Discrimination is discrimination, no matter what color you paint it or how fervently you defend it. So what? Discrimination is fine as long as it is made in your god’s name? So did Jehovah come down to you one night and say, “ I hate fags?” if so, then that certainly doesn’t sound like the compassionate and forgiving god that you so frequently try to represent.
You refuse to acknowledge that by infringing upon someone’s rights based on a condition that one is born with, you perpetuate this Nazi-esque kind of ideal that whatever doesn’t fit your status of “right” or “acceptable” in the eyes of your god and your society is unholy and unclean and should be eradicated or accused of causing the downfall of our nation. And these are, in fact, the same arguments that were made in the Civil Rights movements but you just refuse to see that. I find it amazing how you refuse to see the extent of your hypocrisy.
And again, you missed my point on my saying that gays and lesbians have nothing to do with abortions, Abortion and Gay Marriage have nothing to do with one another aside from the fact that they are two rights that Christian fundamentalists are trying to infringe upon. I seriously don’t know why you’re trying to justify your obvious homophobia and misogyny. You say that homosexuals can’t lead a monogamous lifestyle, if that were so then there would be no cheating amongst heterosexual couples; nor would we even wouldn’t be having this debate now would we?
Your judgments on homosexuals are all based on stereotypes and biased generalizations, you honestly don’t know anything about the gay and lesbian community aside from what you’ve been told and what the media perpetuates, which are obviously just slews of slanderous propaganda.
And what really set me off is the fact that you said that the safest environment is one with a mother and father. Well Mr. Sensitive, I myself have grown up in a very loving and very stable environment where I was raised solely by my mother, and for you to tell me that a single/same-sex household is “unsafe” is totally incomprehensible. To quote Gandhi, “ What good can come out of hate?” What good can come out of discrimination of minorities?
And finally, why are you making it you “mission” to contradict young liberals? So I’m guessing your manifest destiny Jesus’ “plan” for you is to search and challenge 15 year-olds for being young free-thinking individuals? Is that how you justify your hatred? I just pray that you (as in the Christian public) learn to practice that “unconditional love” you endorse so fervently.