Breaking: Obama supports gay marriage

Do we know yet what it is that caused the government to decide the Constitution doesn't apply to Mark2010?

 

Dick,

My point is that we don't oppose discrimination against everyone in all shapes and forms. We actually condone it in many cases. So why the uproar over this?

I happen to believe that homosexuality is a choice on the part of the individual. No more or no less than the choice to drink, smoke or have sex with someone outside of marriage. OK, fine, they made their choice. I disagree with it and I lose all respect for that person as a result.

I'm calling a truce. We obviously have radically differing views on the subject and nothing seems likely to change that. It is what it is.

It's not really about me, anyway. Most here wouldn't know me if I walked up to you at the supermarket, so what difference does it make? I don't need the approval of strangers to validate my point and I suspect you don't either. So we each hold our views and life goes on, for better or worse.

Peace.

 

I'm not mad, so no need for a truce.

I just want you to articulate a rational basis for discrimination against homosexuals. You say other groups are discriminated against and that is correct. Ten-year-olds are not permitted to drive cars. I am not allowed to fly an airplane because I don't have a pilot's license. But the government can articulate rational bases for those distinctions without being conclusory.

 

Probably his stupidity.

 

Nobody Rides for Free by Ratt. I may have seen that movie a couple thousand times in high school and college...

 

As we've discussed in the past, sexual orientation was never given rational basis scrutiny until a couple of months ago. It was reserved for race (am I forgetting something?). Still hasn't in most of the nation.

 

A you know, every group gets rational basis scrutiny. Only race (strict) and gender (intermediate) get different levels. I believe your argument was that the rational basis bar was low enough to clear here.

 

Whoops, wasn't paying attention.

 

I knew what you meant.

 

Mark ... I know you're not alone in your views. However, there is increasing evidence that sexuality is not a choice but is hardwired into our genetic code. Are you willing to consider the possibility that it's as clear cut as you think?

 

I think it is pretty likely that it is a continuum, hard-wired into our genes. This is wildly unsophisticated, but for argument's sake: Let's say someone is born 50 percent gay, 50 percent straight. They could probably end up going either way, depending on circumstances. Someone who is born 40 percent gay and 60 percent gay is more likely to end up living a straight life, but it is not out of the realm of possibility that they might end up living life as a gay person. For all practical purposes, though, I suspect that most people are solidly in one camp or the other, from birth.

 

I think 99 percent of our behavior is learned. Or, at the very least, a choice which WE control.

I had the principles of right and wrong hammered into me at an early age. If I did happen to have a "gay gene", I sure the hell better not ever, ever, ever let anyone know about it. I sure don't go around making excuses or blaming something else for my behavior. Hey, I was BORN with a physical limitation. Tough shit, that's life. I deal with it and don't ask for sympathy.

There are groups which claim to help people who feel "trapped" in a gay lifestyle. I've never been to one, don't know how they work -- or if they are effective or not. I don't know if they are similar to, say, Alcoholics Anonymous, or other 12-step groups. I'm all for anyone wanting to help themselves and reach out to others when they need help with whatever. But, my point is, even if someone is hardwired a certain way, they CAN control their behaviors.

I'm sick and tired of a society that excuses everything on the basis of "that's just the way I'm made". That may be true, but you have the power to fix it, not just march someplace and demand "rights" from people who hate you and your behavior.