#550762 - 02/06/1104:56 AMRe: An Articulate Spokesperson for Gay Marriage
[Re: Clark]
steveg
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Registered: 04/19/02
Posts: 25140
Loc: D'OHio
O'Donnell aired that wonderful speech in it's entirety the other night. The kid so totally nailed it. Yet, it fell on deaf ears. Ears hanging on the sides of skulls filled with raw sewage. Ugh!
. Things haven't changed all that much for gays since Obama has been in office. The only positive legislature for gays has been the repeal of DADT. How many political leaders advocate same-sex marriage? Very few! Even people like Obama and the Clintons who are pro-gay, endorse civil unions, not same-sex marriage.
You and I are from places (BOS, NYC) that are more open-minded toward gays. But the attitude toward gays throughout the country hasn't changed much. Only five states (CT, DC, IA, MA, NH, VT) have legalized same-sex marriage. Of the top ten states with the highest percentage of gays, only one state has legalized same-sex marriage. What has changed?
Joel Osteen heads the largest church in the US. Just the other day, Mr. Osteen said that being gay is a sin.
Many people believe that gays should have "civil unions" with all benefits of a marriage. But civil unions make gays second class citizens because there is no equality when you tell gays they can't be married.
It would be the same thing if Blacks were told they weren't good enough to have marriages like white people. But they can have civil unions instead.
_________________________
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
True enough, Clark. Such prejudice may take a long time to fall. Too, it may never fall. You know how it is with religious issues - you can open up a holy book and find a passage to support whatever you want or admire - or whatever you fear and hate. You don't even have to be religious, of course. You just have to have never dealt with gays in anything but an abstract or distant manner. Sort of like that whole DADT thing. It's like hanging a sign that says I don't want to know, I don't care, and don't make me think about it.
As for marriage, I'm a Canadian and I think we got it right. But I know of fellow Canadians I've worked with who are upset that gays can marry here. Which face serves as a potent reminder: just because a nation enacts a particular law doesn't mean that its people still can't privately discriminate and piously call for two different types of equality - one where you can marry and one where you can have some drily technical, curiously clinical state termed "union."
"Joel Osteen heads the largest church in the US. Just the other day, Mr. Osteen said that being gay is a sin"
That made the news down here, naturally, because his church is here in Houston, and I've seen the interview. Osteen was very clear ~ He believes it's a sin. But he's never preached against it, never will. It's not his place to judge, regardless of how he views the issue. There are gays in his congregation, several who publicly spoke about the interview, explaining that while they certainly disagree, they respect his position, as he respects theirs. They have no intention of leaving their church over this.
Honestly, the interviewer was mining this one. He wouldn't let it go, and why should he? Makes for great ratings, but it did Osteen an undeserved injustice. We all believe what we believe. We need to stop playing gotcha and hating each other over the differences.
_________________________ I always deserve it. Really.
#550784 - 02/06/1111:39 AMRe: An Articulate Spokesperson for Gay Marriage
[Re: keymaker]
steveg
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Registered: 04/19/02
Posts: 25140
Loc: D'OHio
I was wondering when our resident homophobe would weigh in. And here you are! Must be hard to post, though, with those sweaty palms making your mouse slick.