
Feb 14th, 2004, 04:45 AM
OK, I feel compelled, in the sense of fairness, to explain my stance.
If I come across as arrogant, I sincerely apologize. Many people on this board have met me in person, and I feel confident that they would vouch for the fact that this is not my aim. I'm just trying to establish a little perspective here.
One of my biggest beefs with "traditional values" is that a lot of people believe what they believe without question. They don't truly examine WHY they believe what they believe. Having said that, I know that many people on this board DO examine why they hold their beliefs. But not all, and those people who do not shall remain nameless, even if their initials start with VinceZeb.
So, if a church, let's say the Catholic Church, just for an example, tells you that homosexuality is wrong, well, WHY? It's not like they just came out with homosexuality fifty years ago. And it's not like there hasn't been any homosexual behavior within the confines of the Catholic Church, as we all know. It's been around as long as history has been recorded by humans. In many cultures, homsexuality has been acknowledged, and even tolerated. It's not as though people just denied its existence. Indeed, fifty years ago, I think many people knew of it, and they just regarded it as, "It's their thing, and it's none of my business."
And here's the central issue: No one in this thread, or any other relating to this topic, has ever said, "OK, here's the reason(s) gays SHOULDN'T be able to marry. No one has come up with that one. That's why I make vitriolic references to the Bible being a work of fiction. In fact, deep-seeded religious beliefs are often the CAUSE of such conflicts.
"Homosexuality is WRONG!"
Why?
"Because the BIBLE say so!"
Well, the Bible was written by men. And it has been interpreted, and re-interpreted by many people and groups, primarily based on their beliefs. Read a "modernized" version of the Bible, and I guarantee you'll see that it's far different from the King James version, which I was raised to read.
The inherent flaw in the argument against gay marriage always, ALWAYS, goes back to deeply-held religious beliefs. Because God said so. Well, that's not good enough for me. I believe in the Constitution. And the Constitution, even though it can be amended, was created in the interest of upholding equal rights for everyone, in spite of the fact that those who wrote it were White, land-holding, slave-owning males. That's why the Constitution is referred to as a "living document." Not because it can be changed to hold to the beliefs of the crackers in power, but because its purpose is to serve the People. It is designed to protect everyone.
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