Comments on: (Pagan) News of Note http://wildhunt.org/blog/2006/08/pagan-news-of-note_15.html Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:05:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: embreis http://wildhunt.org/blog/2006/08/pagan-news-of-note_15.html/comment-page-1#comment-477 embreis Wed, 16 Aug 2006 13:44:00 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2006/08/pagan-news-of-note-6.html#comment-477 It would be a mistake to underestimate the intensity of feeling which some people, especially older Christian women, have about conventional monogamous marriage. If you have the opportunity to talk to such peole about their feelings, you'll find that many of them quite seriously feel that getting married, staying a married and having had sex with only one person in their lives is the one major accomplishment of their lives, the one fact about them that makes them special. And to such folks, a law which gives people who engage in "sinful" acts equal dignity is an attack on their core identity. It's easy to criticize, pity or even ridicule such attitudes, but it's a mistake to think that the there aren't a lot of people who find the idea of giving equal social status to alternative lifestyles as genuinely frightening and painful. It would be a mistake to underestimate the intensity of feeling which some people, especially older Christian women, have about conventional monogamous marriage. If you have the opportunity to talk to such peole about their feelings, you’ll find that many of them quite seriously feel that getting married, staying a married and having had sex with only one person in their lives is the one major accomplishment of their lives, the one fact about them that makes them special. And to such folks, a law which gives people who engage in “sinful” acts equal dignity is an attack on their core identity. It’s easy to criticize, pity or even ridicule such attitudes, but it’s a mistake to think that the there aren’t a lot of people who find the idea of giving equal social status to alternative lifestyles as genuinely frightening and painful.

]]> By: Andy http://wildhunt.org/blog/2006/08/pagan-news-of-note_15.html/comment-page-1#comment-475 Andy Wed, 16 Aug 2006 07:53:00 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2006/08/pagan-news-of-note-6.html#comment-475 Thank you for this set of links. Coming from a British perspective, I found Mark Tooley's article to be curious; I simply could not understand how he manages to froth up what appears to be a rant without any visible coherence whatsoever.<br/><br/>When we saw the UK law changed last year to allow same-sex and non-marital partnerships to have equal legal recognition, and at the same time legalised adoption rights for gay couples, the world did not end. People did not collapse, the economy did not crumble and Jesus did not ride in to take away his own. <br/><br/>What the legal changes have afforded are greater opportunities for happiness, personal fulfilment and children finding good homes. It has also meant more of us can sleep easy knowing should anything happen to us, our partners will be safe in our homes and have the right to make any and all arrangements for us in the event of our incapacitation or death.<br/><br/>I really find it sad that so many clearly think such things are immoral and not the right of everyone. I am also astonished at the illogical leaps made by fundie commentators, and the hackneyed, discredited (anti)social ideas they keep recycling. x Thank you for this set of links. Coming from a British perspective, I found Mark Tooley’s article to be curious; I simply could not understand how he manages to froth up what appears to be a rant without any visible coherence whatsoever.

When we saw the UK law changed last year to allow same-sex and non-marital partnerships to have equal legal recognition, and at the same time legalised adoption rights for gay couples, the world did not end. People did not collapse, the economy did not crumble and Jesus did not ride in to take away his own.

What the legal changes have afforded are greater opportunities for happiness, personal fulfilment and children finding good homes. It has also meant more of us can sleep easy knowing should anything happen to us, our partners will be safe in our homes and have the right to make any and all arrangements for us in the event of our incapacitation or death.

I really find it sad that so many clearly think such things are immoral and not the right of everyone. I am also astonished at the illogical leaps made by fundie commentators, and the hackneyed, discredited (anti)social ideas they keep recycling. x

]]> By: steward http://wildhunt.org/blog/2006/08/pagan-news-of-note_15.html/comment-page-1#comment-474 steward Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:52:00 +0000 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2006/08/pagan-news-of-note-6.html#comment-474 Re: Marriage<br/><br/>The funny thing is, if self-professed conservatives were really into the "sanctity" of marriage, they'd be pushing for the state to get out of the marriage business, and make it something tied to people's individual belief structures. Even now, the connection of marriage with religion as opposed to the state lives on in language used in state court systems relative to divorce and child support: in NJ, it is handled by the "Chancery Division" of the courts, "chancery" traditionally a word to describe the principal administrative offices of a Catholic Diocese.<br/><br/>I believe it's more about how to do taxes than anything else; and I think a lot of the problems people have, such as the so-called "marriage tax", would evaporate with the <a HREF="http://www.fairtax.org/" REL="nofollow">"Fair Tax"</a> system. As for employee benefit matters, I think that issues about that will melt away once the real problems - state control over marriage and marriage-based taxation - have been eliminated. Re: Marriage

The funny thing is, if self-professed conservatives were really into the “sanctity” of marriage, they’d be pushing for the state to get out of the marriage business, and make it something tied to people’s individual belief structures. Even now, the connection of marriage with religion as opposed to the state lives on in language used in state court systems relative to divorce and child support: in NJ, it is handled by the “Chancery Division” of the courts, “chancery” traditionally a word to describe the principal administrative offices of a Catholic Diocese.

I believe it’s more about how to do taxes than anything else; and I think a lot of the problems people have, such as the so-called “marriage tax”, would evaporate with the “Fair Tax” system. As for employee benefit matters, I think that issues about that will melt away once the real problems – state control over marriage and marriage-based taxation – have been eliminated.

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