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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Friday, February 20, 2004 I mentioned yesterday that conservatives were accusing gay-marriage supporters of advocating polygamy, but failed to provide any links. Here are some:Beyond Gay Marriage, an article from the Aug. 4 -- Aug. 11, 2003 issue of the Weekly Standard. Oddly, this article contains one of the best defenses of gay marriage I've seen recently. In his explanation of why polygamy would not be good for America, Stanley Kurtz writes:In most non-Western cultures, marriage is not a union of freely choosing individuals, but an alliance of family groups. The emotional relationship between husband and wife is attenuated and subordinated to the economic and political interests of extended kin. But in our world of freely choosing individuals, extended families fall away, and love and companionship are the only surviving principles on which families can be built [emphasis mine]. From Thomas Aquinas through Richard Posner, almost every serious observer has granted the incompatibility between polygamy and Western companionate marriage.Schwarzeneggar: Gay Marriages Illegal. No, Arnold isn't pontificating on polygamy, but the article does quote a certain Genevieve Wood:Genevieve Wood, vice president of the Communications Family Research Council, said that redefining marriage might be a slippery slope. "There are people out there ... who want to engage in polygamy, they think that's a good family structure. There are others who think that group marriages are a family structure," Wood added.I couldn't find an internet reference to anything called the Communications Family Research Council. I believe CNN goofed here and that the sentence should read "Genevieve Wood, vice president of Communications for the Family Research Council . . . " Nor I did find a quote to this effect on the Family Research Council site itself, though there certainly is plenty of other anti-gay sentiment. Genevieve Wood's online CV lists her as vice president of media for the FRC, a member of the Heritage Foundation's Media Advisory Board, and a "frequent political commentator" for MSNBC, Fox News and CNN.An op-ed piece in the Philadelphia Enquirer links same-sex marriage with incest and polygamy. This author is at least opposed to other kinds of discrimination against homosexuals. He says "The sexual orientation of my gay friends and acquaintances, among whom have been a district justice and a musician/actor, is completely irrelevant to how I regard them as persons. I believe that employment, housing, legal and social discrimination based on sexual orientation is abhorrent and support all laws designed to prevent it." But he still fears that same-sex marriages are a slippery slope toward polygamy, if not incest. He fails to see that laws against same-sex marriage fall into the category of the social discrimination he claims to oppose. This is how knee-jerk emotional reactions make people blind to reason and logic.Chuck Colson, in an article in CBN News quotes Princeton Professor Robert George on the Supreme Court's ruling against the Texas sodomy law:If the Supreme Court dismantles prevailing law, George writes, it will likely replace marriage with consent as the principle by which courts distinguish constitutionally protected sex from unprotected sexual conduct. But if consent becomes a new standard for defining sexual privacy, he warns, then not only sodomy, but also fornication, adultery, polygamy, prostitution, adult incest, and even bestiality would become protected rights.Colson also suggests where we might try looking for weapons of mass destruction. "I realized the other day that our inspectors are looking in the wrong place for weapons of mass destruction," he says. "These weapons are not in Baghdad; they're in Washington, in the hands of the sexual liberationist lobby." Who knew we were so powerful! I thought we were only a threat to the sanctity of marriage! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)This is a very small sampling of the vicious rhetoric already making the rounds. Look for it to get worse. To my shame, I sat out the conflict over the Equal Rights Amendment. I was married to an abusive man, who opposed the ERA, of course, and through him, was involved with a fundamentalist church. In an attempt to protect myself and my children, I kept my mouth shut. No more. posted by Liz @ 4:02 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
I mentioned yesterday that conservatives were accusing gay-marriage supporters of advocating polygamy, but failed to provide any links. Here are some:Beyond Gay Marriage, an article from the Aug. 4 -- Aug. 11, 2003 issue of the Weekly Standard. Oddly, this article contains one of the best defenses of gay marriage I've seen recently. In his explanation of why polygamy would not be good for America, Stanley Kurtz writes:In most non-Western cultures, marriage is not a union of freely choosing individuals, but an alliance of family groups. The emotional relationship between husband and wife is attenuated and subordinated to the economic and political interests of extended kin. But in our world of freely choosing individuals, extended families fall away, and love and companionship are the only surviving principles on which families can be built [emphasis mine]. From Thomas Aquinas through Richard Posner, almost every serious observer has granted the incompatibility between polygamy and Western companionate marriage.Schwarzeneggar: Gay Marriages Illegal. No, Arnold isn't pontificating on polygamy, but the article does quote a certain Genevieve Wood:Genevieve Wood, vice president of the Communications Family Research Council, said that redefining marriage might be a slippery slope. "There are people out there ... who want to engage in polygamy, they think that's a good family structure. There are others who think that group marriages are a family structure," Wood added.I couldn't find an internet reference to anything called the Communications Family Research Council. I believe CNN goofed here and that the sentence should read "Genevieve Wood, vice president of Communications for the Family Research Council . . . " Nor I did find a quote to this effect on the Family Research Council site itself, though there certainly is plenty of other anti-gay sentiment. Genevieve Wood's online CV lists her as vice president of media for the FRC, a member of the Heritage Foundation's Media Advisory Board, and a "frequent political commentator" for MSNBC, Fox News and CNN.An op-ed piece in the Philadelphia Enquirer links same-sex marriage with incest and polygamy. This author is at least opposed to other kinds of discrimination against homosexuals. He says "The sexual orientation of my gay friends and acquaintances, among whom have been a district justice and a musician/actor, is completely irrelevant to how I regard them as persons. I believe that employment, housing, legal and social discrimination based on sexual orientation is abhorrent and support all laws designed to prevent it." But he still fears that same-sex marriages are a slippery slope toward polygamy, if not incest. He fails to see that laws against same-sex marriage fall into the category of the social discrimination he claims to oppose. This is how knee-jerk emotional reactions make people blind to reason and logic.Chuck Colson, in an article in CBN News quotes Princeton Professor Robert George on the Supreme Court's ruling against the Texas sodomy law:If the Supreme Court dismantles prevailing law, George writes, it will likely replace marriage with consent as the principle by which courts distinguish constitutionally protected sex from unprotected sexual conduct. But if consent becomes a new standard for defining sexual privacy, he warns, then not only sodomy, but also fornication, adultery, polygamy, prostitution, adult incest, and even bestiality would become protected rights.Colson also suggests where we might try looking for weapons of mass destruction. "I realized the other day that our inspectors are looking in the wrong place for weapons of mass destruction," he says. "These weapons are not in Baghdad; they're in Washington, in the hands of the sexual liberationist lobby." Who knew we were so powerful! I thought we were only a threat to the sanctity of marriage! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)This is a very small sampling of the vicious rhetoric already making the rounds. Look for it to get worse. To my shame, I sat out the conflict over the Equal Rights Amendment. I was married to an abusive man, who opposed the ERA, of course, and through him, was involved with a fundamentalist church. In an attempt to protect myself and my children, I kept my mouth shut. No more.
In most non-Western cultures, marriage is not a union of freely choosing individuals, but an alliance of family groups. The emotional relationship between husband and wife is attenuated and subordinated to the economic and political interests of extended kin. But in our world of freely choosing individuals, extended families fall away, and love and companionship are the only surviving principles on which families can be built [emphasis mine]. From Thomas Aquinas through Richard Posner, almost every serious observer has granted the incompatibility between polygamy and Western companionate marriage.
Genevieve Wood, vice president of the Communications Family Research Council, said that redefining marriage might be a slippery slope. "There are people out there ... who want to engage in polygamy, they think that's a good family structure. There are others who think that group marriages are a family structure," Wood added.
If the Supreme Court dismantles prevailing law, George writes, it will likely replace marriage with consent as the principle by which courts distinguish constitutionally protected sex from unprotected sexual conduct. But if consent becomes a new standard for defining sexual privacy, he warns, then not only sodomy, but also fornication, adultery, polygamy, prostitution, adult incest, and even bestiality would become protected rights.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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