My letter to the editor was published today...

[robphelan]

It's regarding the voters' approval to amend the TX Consitution outlawing gay marriage

you might have to register to see it

they modified it a little but the message is the same.

• Why stop at marriage?
  
  There are more than 500,000 words in the dictionary (excluding scientific nomenclature). Let's legally define them all. Heck, we have only 432 amendments to the Texas Constitution. We could start with "authoritarianism," make our way to "oppression" and end up with "zealotry."
  
  From the music and movie industries suing 6-year-olds and abuses of the Patriot Act by our own government to homophobic religious zealots, the erosion of civil liberties is growing at the fastest rate in history.
  
  We used to be a free country; now we are legislating who can marry whom, as if two people of the same sex living happy, monogamous lives and enjoying the same rights and privileges as the rest of us is going to be the fall of our society.
  
  We need to focus on regaining our rights as citizens of a free country, not finding ways to limit or revoke them.
  

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: robphelan
We used to be a free country; now we are legislating who can marry whom, as if two people of the same sex living happy, monogamous lives and enjoying the same rights and privileges as the rest of us is going to be the fall of our society.

You say this as if we used to allow gay marriage and now we don't... We never have, so because of that we've never been free, right?

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

They always throw in a few whack job editorials just for a good laugh. :thumbsup:

 

[mooglekit]

Yeah, all that seems a bit extreme....I mean, I guess I would almost fall into that "religious zealot" category of yours simply because I don't beleive the church should recognize the marriage vows of a same sex union. That being said, I would prefer same sex unions were offered the same LEGAL advantages/disadvantages as any other union, including marriage. (Sits back and waits to get flamed...)

By the way, you better to move this to P&N pretty fast...

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: mooglekit
By the way, you better to move this to P&N pretty fast...

qft. Good point though...

 

[Hannover]

Originally posted by: mooglekit
Yeah, all that seems a bit extreme....I mean, I guess I would almost fall into that "religious zealot" category of yours simply because I don't beleive the church should recognize the marriage vows of a same sex union.

Except that we weren't voting to amend the church constitution. The 'church' can recognize or not recognize whatever the hell it wants. This issue is with the state of Texas effectivly killing any hope for at least a 'civil union' for same-sex partners. F' the church. This is about legal rights.

 

[MaxDepth]

:meh;

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
They always throw in a few whack job editorials just for a good laugh. :thumbsup:

kinda like how every thread has a troll or two. :thumbsup:

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
They always throw in a few whack job editorials just for a good laugh. :thumbsup:

kinda like how every thread has a troll or two. :thumbsup:

Or three.

 

[mooglekit]

Originally posted by: Hannover

This issue is with the state of Texas effectivly killing any hope for at least a 'civil union' for same-sex partners. F' the church. This is about legal rights.

You know, rather than being pissed and writing rants to newspapers and posting rants on tech forums, it might be a better idea to do something more constructive, like talk to your political representatives and, perhaps, be one of the people who actively works to present the (well deserving) case that same-sex unions should have the right to be legally recognized.

When people go on rants, it does not (in almost ALL cases) help the cause they would like to support, instead it only strengthens the negative view of that position held by those who opposed that cause in the first place. This country is based on free speech, but it is those who effectively use that free speech (and by that I mean most convincingly and with the best, reasonable arguments behind them not the LOUDEST) who gain political and legal victories.

I appreciate your view, and once again, move this to P&N, you'll get a more constructive discussion going there.

 

[Hannover]

Originally posted by: mooglekit

Originally posted by: Hannover

This issue is with the state of Texas effectivly killing any hope for at least a 'civil union' for same-sex partners. F' the church. This is about legal rights.

You know, rather than being pissed and writing rants to newspapers and posting rants on tech forums, it might be a better idea to do something more constructive, like talk to your political representatives and, perhaps, be one of the people who actively works to present the (well deserving) case that same-sex unions should have the right to be legally recognized.

When people go on rants, it does not (in almost ALL cases) help the cause they would like to support, instead it only strengthens the negative view of that position held by those who opposed that cause in the first place. This country is based on free speech, but it is those who effectively use that free speech (and by that I mean most convincingly and with the best, reasonable arguments behind them not the LOUDEST) who gain political and legal victories.

I appreciate your view, and once again, move this to P&N, you'll get a more constructive discussion going there.

I agree with you 100%. I'm not the OP, just another frustrated constituent. I write letters & emails to my reps on a regular basis concerning the issues that I feel strongly about. I just get frustrated with folks who think that this a church issue.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: mooglekit

You know, rather than being pissed and writing rants to newspapers and posting rants on tech forums, it might be a better idea to do something more constructive, like talk to your political representatives and, perhaps, be one of the people who actively works to present the (well deserving) case that same-sex unions should have the right to be legally recognized.

When people go on rants, it does not (in almost ALL cases) help the cause they would like to support, instead it only strengthens the negative view of that position held by those who opposed that cause in the first place. This country is based on free speech, but it is those who effectively use that free speech (and by that I mean most convincingly and with the best, reasonable arguments behind them not the LOUDEST) who gain political and legal victories.

I appreciate your view, and once again, move this to P&N, you'll get a more constructive discussion going there.

You missed one thing - VOTE! I doubt either Hanover or the OP would give us an honest answer if they didn't vote on Tuesday, but it'd be interesting to know if they did.

Edit: (No offense to either of you, but I wouldn't expect someone to admit that, because you really don't have much room to complain if you didn't vote against it).

 

[Hannover]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: mooglekit

You know, rather than being pissed and writing rants to newspapers and posting rants on tech forums, it might be a better idea to do something more constructive, like talk to your political representatives and, perhaps, be one of the people who actively works to present the (well deserving) case that same-sex unions should have the right to be legally recognized.

When people go on rants, it does not (in almost ALL cases) help the cause they would like to support, instead it only strengthens the negative view of that position held by those who opposed that cause in the first place. This country is based on free speech, but it is those who effectively use that free speech (and by that I mean most convincingly and with the best, reasonable arguments behind them not the LOUDEST) who gain political and legal victories.

I appreciate your view, and once again, move this to P&N, you'll get a more constructive discussion going there.

You missed one thing - VOTE! I doubt either Hanover or the OP would give us an honest answer if they didn't vote on Tuesday, but it'd be interesting to know if they did.

Edit: (No offense to either of you, but I wouldn't expect someone to admit that, because you really don't have much room to complain if you didn't vote against it).

I voted yes on props 4 & 8. No on all others. http://www.click2houston.com/politics/5268023/detail.html

- I live in a rural area that frequently has accessability problems for voting, but I still manage to get out and vote in every election. In the 2004 election, the polling place didn't have a paved parking lot and had been rained on for 2 days straight. The parking lot was a covered with stuck cars & trucks, the line around the building was a mud pit and people lined up in the rain to cast their votes.

This year, they changed the polling location without telling anyone in the precinct. There was a line of cars that just drove around to each possible location (police, fire, crt. house, church) until we found the right location.

I have no respect for people who don't vote but still complain.

 

[robphelan]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: mooglekit

You know, rather than being pissed and writing rants to newspapers and posting rants on tech forums, it might be a better idea to do something more constructive, like talk to your political representatives and, perhaps, be one of the people who actively works to present the (well deserving) case that same-sex unions should have the right to be legally recognized.

When people go on rants, it does not (in almost ALL cases) help the cause they would like to support, instead it only strengthens the negative view of that position held by those who opposed that cause in the first place. This country is based on free speech, but it is those who effectively use that free speech (and by that I mean most convincingly and with the best, reasonable arguments behind them not the LOUDEST) who gain political and legal victories.

I appreciate your view, and once again, move this to P&N, you'll get a more constructive discussion going there.

You missed one thing - VOTE! I doubt either Hanover or the OP would give us an honest answer if they didn't vote on Tuesday, but it'd be interesting to know if they did.

Edit: (No offense to either of you, but I wouldn't expect someone to admit that, because you really don't have much room to complain if you didn't vote against it).

yes.. i voted on Tues...

i didn't mean for this to become P&N - those are the real nutjobs.

i agree - if you don't vote, don't complain... this amendment was passed by a 3-1 margin, btw.

 

[DainBramaged]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
They always throw in a few whack job editorials just for a good laugh. :thumbsup:

lol

 

[PatboyX]

Originally posted by: Hannover

Originally posted by: mooglekit

Originally posted by: Hannover

This issue is with the state of Texas effectivly killing any hope for at least a 'civil union' for same-sex partners. F' the church. This is about legal rights.

You know, rather than being pissed and writing rants to newspapers and posting rants on tech forums, it might be a better idea to do something more constructive, like talk to your political representatives and, perhaps, be one of the people who actively works to present the (well deserving) case that same-sex unions should have the right to be legally recognized.

When people go on rants, it does not (in almost ALL cases) help the cause they would like to support, instead it only strengthens the negative view of that position held by those who opposed that cause in the first place. This country is based on free speech, but it is those who effectively use that free speech (and by that I mean most convincingly and with the best, reasonable arguments behind them not the LOUDEST) who gain political and legal victories.

I appreciate your view, and once again, move this to P&N, you'll get a more constructive discussion going there.

I agree with you 100%. I'm not the OP, just another frustrated constituent. I write letters & emails to my reps on a regular basis concerning the issues that I feel strongly about. I just get frustrated with folks who think that this a church issue.

i agree but i dont think that writing letters to newspapers, where they can be published and perhaps motivate others, is a waste.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: robphelan
i agree - if you don't vote, don't complain... this amendment was passed by a 3-1 margin, btw.

And I bet voter turnout was very low. The people who voted were the people who had a REASON to vote, and apparantly the supporters of this amendment turned out in droves. If the amendment really doesn't reflect the feelings of the average Texan, then it can be repealed with another amendment. (i.e. in a year with a national election when people actually vote)