A Conservative View of Gay Marriage

A look at gay marriage from the other side.

"There is something to be said for cultural respect," US Representative Barney Frank remarked. "Showing a bit of respect for cultural values with which you disagree is not a bad thing. Don't call people bigots and fools just because you disagree with them."

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jeffjacoby/jj20041108.shtml

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"Showing a bit of respect for cultural values with which you disagree is not a bad thing. Don't call people bigots and fools just because you disagree with them."


Ok, this is a double-edged sword here. Don't call people wrong and sinners just because YOU disagree with them.

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Ah! Some people are such morons, I would rather not know of their existence! Keep our boards clean.

I would never call someone I disagree with a bigot simply because I disagree with them. I call them a bigot when they engage in behavior preventing specific groups of people who are, by their own admission law-abiding and capable citizens, from sharing in the same legal and social life experiences other Americans are able to enjoy. That's what bigotry is and don't get mad at me if I call you on yours. I don't care what rationale you have for said bigotry, bigotry is bigotry and telling me your bigotry is something I need to respect because either a) lots of other people share it or b) you read that it's OK in some book of myths isn't good enough. It's not even close to good enough.

The opposition has no problem instantly and ludicrously linking homosexuality with deviant behavior, they have no problem demonizing a person as having made a 'lifestyle choice that the majority does not approve of' but we dare not call them on it, dare not make them put their money where their mouth is when they say 'they don't have a problem with the homosexual lifestyle' even though furiously pass laws stating that they most certainly do, for fear of being called intolerant or incapable of respecting their cultural decisions or imposing morality on them (obviously ignoring that their entire stand is based on nothing more than their imposing morality on others.)

The majority does not rule. Those of us in favor of granting freedoms to all Americans, with no petty exceptions, will not be beaten down by religious brow-beating or specious claims of intolerance.

We're fighting to grant people freedom and protection, not keep it away from them. We're on the side of goodness, on the side of righteousness, on the side of our fellow man. And I'm not going to sit around and allow those on the side of exclusion and bigotry tell me they have spoken and that I should therefore listen. You're wrong; we're right. The 'debate' won't stop until the laws support that stone cold truth.

What people think in their bedrooms and in their churches is their own business, naturally.

Updated On: 11/9/04 at 09:54 PM

"Great article. Thanks for posting it! It should be made known that as a nation, America DOES NOT WANT same-sex marriages. America does not want homosexuals and their agenda to advance. America wants the traditional family. by an overwhelming majority."

Are you saying you back this statement?

An "overwhelming majority" of Americans opposed interracial marriage at the time the Supreme Court struck down anti-miscegenation laws in Loving v. Virginia back in 1967 -- roughly the same percentage (70+) currently against gay marriage and squawking about the "homosexual agenda" today. Those opposed in 1967 also spoke stridently and passionately about the immorality and the evil of nontraditional families and the upsetting of societal norms and their own personal revulsion at the sight of such couples and of the irreparable harm that would be done to the children within such families and cited biblical precedent in condemnation (the story of Ham was often invoked).

Funny how bigotry and ignorance never disappears and it just takes on different forms and finds new targets. This too shall pass.

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Updated On: 11/10/04 at 11:24 PM

Yep. Margo, as I've been hearing a lot in the city of late: "gay is the new black."

grownup, yes I know who Barney Frank is. In your liberal fury to always be right, you've missed the point of why I've highlighted Frank's quote.

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then enlighten us, Goth

"Did I negate or deny anything you said?"
"Doesn't Goth know who Barney Frank even is??!! Helloooooo."
Are you saying hello to me or being sarcastic? Sarcasm negates!

The point of highlighting Frank's quote is that he points out that people with different viewpoints (that's me) don't have to be called bigots (I've been called that at least 3 times on this board). He understands what a lot of people on this board don't: just because someone disagrees with you doesn't give you the right to call them names.

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unfortunately, when either side is unreasonable and resorts to name calling, nothing good is accomplished.

I do not know Goth, so I don't know if he is a bigot, just opinionated, or just on the opposite side of the political fence. I can say with a certainty, though, that the gentleman who worte the artcile that goth quoted is a bigot and a hypocrite. On the one hand, he calls for reasonableness and respect from his opponents, but, on the other, he slanders and belittles them. It's mighty hard to respect that or listen to anything he says afterer that point. His credibility is ruined..

Ma: word.

I imagine Goth feels marginalized on this board, but I neither called him a name nor a bigot--nor, I believe, did anyone on this thread.

I agree--the issue is the bigotry he is promoting by default by linking to the article.

I guess the line between opinion and bigotry is between theory and practice?

(But then, by that token, is a "non-practicing" racist--who never says or does anything based on his/her prejudice, but merely hates in his/her heart--not a bigot? But merely one who holds an opinion?)

It's tough. We are all so emotionally charged right now, and it's difficult when people seem to be deliberately inflammatory. (Like twisting the words of a Gay congressman to support the bigoted words of a conservative column?)

I think the real key may eventually be the separation of civil marriage and religious marriage.

But it all makes my head and heart hurt! (And that sentence makes me feel like Tammy Faye...who is an excellent example of a loving, tolerant, Christian woman with a HUGE gay following!!)

" Westworld, that's the second time you posted that joke and the second time it landed with a dull, empty thud. Here's hoping there's a three strikes and you're out rule around here."
That's the second time someone posted a statement comparing a God given race to a sociobiological sexual orientation. But hey, who's counting?