tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6272120342505007987.post6751808118093706410..comments2024-03-28T01:32:59.112-04:00Comments on The Tempest: The Gay Marriage DebateDoug Dunnevanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12296041517190584690noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6272120342505007987.post-18796189425898789002013-03-27T22:28:44.281-04:002013-03-27T22:28:44.281-04:00Matt.. Sorry, its the first part of the second par...Matt.. Sorry, its the first part of the second paragraph and a summary in the last paragraphDoug Dunnevanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12296041517190584690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6272120342505007987.post-72310447752552610272013-03-27T22:25:48.941-04:002013-03-27T22:25:48.941-04:00Matt...Here they are, in I think the first paragra...Matt...Here they are, in I think the first paragraph<br />http://doug-thetempest.blogspot.com/2012/05/gay-marriage-debatewith-myself.htmlDoug Dunnevanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12296041517190584690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6272120342505007987.post-54821597327175458282013-03-27T22:19:30.470-04:002013-03-27T22:19:30.470-04:00Patrick,
If I may try to support your dad's po...Patrick,<br />If I may try to support your dad's point...<br />Once you start changing laws to suit public opinion, where do you stop? It sounds absurd to think that we could one day decide to change the laws so that mutual consent is not required for marriage, which would allow the case of the 35-year-old marrying the 9-year-old. But it could happen. In fact, we have already crossed this line when it comes to abortion, as an unborn baby gives no consent to be killed because the mother finds it inconvenient.<br /><br />Doug,<br />You say you have some "religious convictions" on the topic, and I think it'd be helpful for some to know what those are. They may not be "germane to the legal argument" but if they're germane to your life, I think they're relevant, and I'd like to hear them, if you have the time.<br />Matt Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12392017530339135933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6272120342505007987.post-9738962475433823582013-03-27T15:59:01.215-04:002013-03-27T15:59:01.215-04:00Dad,
The "allowing gay marriage will allow h...Dad,<br /><br />The "allowing gay marriage will allow human-dog marriage" argument simply doesn't work, because in order to get married, you have to have legal standing, consent, and be able to sign a marriage license. Obviously, animals are capable of exactly none of these. Now, you could argue that people would try to change the laws to accommodate animals, but then, the burden of proof would be on YOU to demonstrate that, and I frankly see absolutely no reason that this would ever happen.<br /><br />35-year-olds also CAN marry 15-year-olds (in some places), provided they have parental consent. A better argument would have been "Why wouldn't 35-year-olds be able to marry a 9-year-old?" And, of course, the reason would be that 9-year-olds also cannot consent in any meaningful way.Patrickhttp://patrickdunnevant.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6272120342505007987.post-3247095595566856652013-03-27T15:49:05.586-04:002013-03-27T15:49:05.586-04:00I appreciate that you have put thought into the is...I appreciate that you have put thought into the issue, as there are so many who immediately and often blindly write it off with no further thought, and it is clear that you have considered other sides to this story. I did spend some time writing out a longer response that I may want to email to you or maybe post in my own blog, but first, a few things I'm itching to respond to--these are not attacks of course! Please don't misunderstand my intention here. <br /><br />I think maybe it isn't fair to imply that the younger proponents of marriage equality have made it a simple issue of love. I know that I and most of my peers have not devolved this position so far as to say it is just about love. Maybe it's presumptuous for me to assume that I am among your "younger" friends (after all, I am not SO young anymore), but I would like to defend my generation in this regard (and it extends to any number of topics, not just marriage equality). It is true that more and more we rally behind catchphrases like, "Love is love," but it is because we are in a unique media-driven era of our societal evolution in which marketability is absolutely essential to having a voice. Basically, in this case, "Love is love" is the headline, but many of us (and I would venture to say most of us) have read the entire article. I think we collectively understand the underlying issues and understand what we are supporting a lot better than some might believe. <br /><br />Having said that, I am interested to see what tomorrow's entry entails. I know what my arguments for marriage equality are. I am curious to see what you have gleaned from other sources.<br /><br />I think I would like to send you this piece I wrote, or if I post it on my blog I can send you the link and you can choose to read it or not. I may look over it some more before sharing it with anyone, only because for me this topic is very delicate and I will treat it as such. The piece initially started as a reaction to this blog post but somehow evolved into an overview of my own personal platform on the subject. It includes a number of points: what I support and why, of course, why I have specifically taken up the banner of civil rights, why I think that is an appropriate lens through which to view this issue, and also why I find it socially irresponsible to relate homosexuality to the crimes of pedophilia, polygamy, and worst of all bestiality. There are questions as well, as I struggle to understand the opposition to marriage equality when one attempts to remove it from the context of religion/morality.<br /><br />Again, I definitely appreciate the thought you put into this, and I hope that this response will be seen as courteous discourse, as that was my intention.Jessiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02662545865690448291noreply@blogger.com