Same-Sex Marriage Hinges On Terminology
June 3rd, 2009
When did marriage become a government issue? Marriage has been around since the beginning. When God created Adam and Eve, they “knew” each other, meaning that they had sex. That was it; they were married. As soon as their son was old enough, he, too, took a wife. And so on.
Marriage began as a way to have companionship and protection, and of helping each other, and it resulted in procreation. Some marry for love, some for convenience, and some solely for procreation. Government may have gotten involved as a way of preventing and settling disputes over property and inheritances. It is said that priests once had families just like everyone else but that the Catholic Church did not like losing the accrued property to children when their priests died. Banning priests from being married kept the property in the hands of the Church.
Government involvement is still not necessary for marriage. Marriage began as a verbal commitment and remains so in many countries. We’ve all heard of people being “married in the eyes of God.” This is still the only real requirement, and anyone (homo- or hetero- sexual) has the right to refer to their partner as their husband or wife.
The real issue of same-sex marriage is that of legal benefits. These would include inheritance, being next of kin, preventing forced court testimony, and discounts with family memberships, just to name a few. Marriage is already a legal right offered to everyone; everyone has the legal right to marry someone of the opposite sex, but some people do not accept that choice.
The solution would seem to be to simply change the terminology. Since “marriage” is the word that brings out anger and hostility, and has become a stumbling block, the answer would be to pick a different term. A “union” (pick a term) could be written into law to have every legal benefit as a marriage. There are enough churches around who would even offer marriage ceremonies for those who want their union to have a religious component.
Some would say that gays not only have equal rights already but even more rights than most. Maybe asking for equal benefits instead would change the entire tone of the issue because it would allow the other side to stop feeling that anything given would result in the loss of any of their own rights.
Library Privacy Rights Trump Child’s Right to Life
July 20th, 2008
Libraries used to be for and all about kids. Little kids are new, voracious readers who soar through tons of picture books, and who, if allowed, would read through more books than most parents would be able to buy. Libraries should also still be the best place for kids to do homework – not everyone has a computer at home.
Are libraries now more for adults to anonymously ogle kiddie porn, or for terrorists planning to bomb a daycare center? Maybe they are now more for adults having cyber affairs, or for older kids to be on myspace without their parents watching. Well, that implies that there are still parents who watch their kids, but that’s another issue.
According to a recent AP article by John Curran, a librarian “demanded a search warrant, touching off a confrontation that pitted the privacy rights of library patrons against the rights of police on official business.” Read the rest of this entry »
Adolescent Lack of Sleep Actually Lack of Responsibility
August 21st, 2007
US researchers say that the inner clock (circadian rhythm) of teenagers directs them to be ready for sleep later at night than when they were younger.
This has become just one more opportunity to take the responsibility off the person and the parents, and to be able to place blame. The blame is put on schools for not starting later to accommodate teenagers - it must be the schools’ responsibility. It is also a wonderful opportunity to tell us (again) that we need the (socialist-leaning) government to force the situation. In this case, it is to force schools to change their hours. The bottom line is that many adults do not parent their kids and the government thinks that none of us is smart enough to do so.
Animals or People?
July 18th, 2007
Animals or kids? Animals or babies? Animals or people?
When a horse and many dogs are found residing inside a house, there is an outcry against their living conditions. Animal control is called and acts very swiftly. Besides the filth, the outrage is that a horse should be able to run free. The sidenote in the news story is that there is a child in the home. If a concerned neighbor had called to say that a child was living in filth, would child protective services have acted as swiftly?
The Blessing of a Death Sentence
June 22nd, 2007
When we are extremely sick, and we feel like we might even die, we fight. We spend all of our waking energy fighting, and our body fights as we sleep. The fight is more important than eating, having visitors, working, cleaning, or even watching television. The entire goal is to fight to get well.
