Civil union :slashingtongue

ST against both Mainers voting decisions; but respects it

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 6:02 pm  
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I have always said, that amongst all the states; it is I find Mainers most Independent and they make the most sense when voting. However, in this case I think that they got it wrong both ways, but we should not challenge their view by votes.

Maine voted 53%-47% in favor of repealing gay marriages. I am a person that has a different view than most out there. I follow the stance of Governor Jesse Ventura and I think that ALL marriage should be repealed and replaced with civil unions.

Marriage is not a state affair, it is a cultural, religious, customary and/or traditional affair. I believe that the government should not force a Church, Synagogue, Mosque or other places of worship to accept gay marriages when it is forbidden by their religion to do so.

At the same time, these places of worship should not dictate to us our policy. I believe that we should not disrespect them, but we should not be shaping our laws to their beliefs. I believe that a civil union is the union of two consenting adults (above 21). This should grant people the same rights as what marriage grants today.

For people that say that this could lead to bestiality or pedophilia; I would like to stress the words CONSENTING ADULTS. Animals and children are not consenting adults, they do not have a mind mature enough to know what is right and what is wrong. As for issues of bisexuality and polygamy, these people would need a will to do matters anyway rather than a simple matter of marriage. And doesn’t our nation allow polygamy for Mormons and Muslims? Why can’t they allow gay marriage for other religion that allow it?

Mainers also voted 59%-41% in favor of expanding medical marijuana usage. I am on the right when it comes to marijuana. Look, I do not doubt or condone the effects of marijuana. What I do know, is that it is a controlled substance that can heal people. The question is not whether we are going to legalize marijuana but whether we are expanding medical marijuana.

To me , the key word here is medical. I think that if a person is sick, and the doctor has to administer marijuana as medicine, let the doctor do what he has to do. Hell, if heroin can cure something, use it! The doctor should be answerable to any side effects including addiction. I also do not want it to end up like prescription drugs, where people can buy it over the counter to get high. I believe that doctors or other health care professionals should administer marijuana instead.

I find it ridiculous that one can get marijuana for a headache. Marijuana should be treated for pain that arouses from cancer or cancer treatment. Dispensaries are not a good idea. If it cannot stop underage drinking and smoking, what in the world would make the free market stop selling marijuana to minors? To me, that would cause us a lot of problems in the future.

Now, this is what I love about Mainers, they are to the left on medical marijuana but on the right on gay marriage. I am just the opposite. But unlike talking to a Texan Conservative or a Californian Liberal, their heads would not explode if you disagree with them.

Lastly, I think that the vote should be respected, even though a person like me disagrees with it. This is America. We are the fathers of modern Democracy. Never should a person’s view go against the will of many. The only alternative a person have is to take it to the courts. Courts are bound by their interpretation of the law, not to the citizens. If they throw it out, that should be the end of the matter.

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Best reason for ST’s stand on marriage

Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 7:46 pm  
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A week or two ago, we here in Slashing Tongue floated out our position that government should ban marriages outright and replaces all of them with civil unions. We have always stated that marriage is a religious, cultural and/or a traditional function that has no place in government. A perfect example of this comes from Louisiana.

Firstly, lets keep it real. This Justice of Peace Keith Bardwell is a complete jerk of a being. His reason is absolutely ridiculous. Without any statistics or proof, he went out saying that inter-racial marriages would end up in divorce and that would be bad for the children. Utter ridiculousness!

41% of marriages in our country end in divorce, are they all interracial? Yes more inter-racial marriages collapse, but a 47% for interracial marriages is not so far from the 41% for marriage in general in America, especially since interracial marriages only make up 3% of marriages in America. To finish it off, doesn’t it show statistically show that there is a higher chance of an interracial marriage to make it rather than fail (53% – 47%)? ** Source CDC

Even if interracial marriages were to fail, why should the government be intervening in who I want to marry? Should the government intervene in Hollywood marriages which seem to last days? Should the government ban weddings in Las Vegas? Isn’t this one of the most basic civic liberties? If I can’t be free to choose the parent of my kids should be, what is freedom then?

America is not only the land of the free, it is also the beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. We saved the world in World War 2 with our forefathers. We built Europe up after the War with our treasury and never asked anything back. We exported our freedom, and we must never let the simplest form of freedoms be taken away from us.

This is what happens when the government dictates what we can and what we cannot do with our personal lives. It is just like smoking. If I want to smoke and harm my body, what is your problem? I think it is okay if they ban it in public places, but I should be able to smoke as much as I want at home!

The government should not have a say in who my life partner is. We cannot allow religion to run our state. We are not Saudi Arabia or the Taliban. We should not have prayers in school. We should not have prayer breaks in our workplace. We should not allow cab drivers to charge us extra for some religious tax obligations.

At the same time, the government should not dictate the religious believes in America. Therefore, the government should ban marriage as we know it. Let marriage be the domain of the church, synagogues, mosques and temples. The state should have their own set of laws that are by and for the people.

Marriage as we know it should be replaced with civil unions, where rights are given out by laws regarding finance and custody. I do not think that polygamy and polyandry should be allowed officially (in terms of dollars or spousal benefits), but it should be respected and legal in marriage as religious beliefs (e.g. Mormons, Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists).

I hope that this Justice of Peace loses his job and is punished in some legal form. This is racism no matter how he butters it.

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Gay marriage : ST’s position becoming popular!

Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at 4:37 pm  
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In the toughest of times, gay marriage is able yet again to creep into the headlines yet again thanks to former President Bill Clinton. I covered it this time because we noted that there were more Americans than we thought that had the same mentality as I do. And it is something that neither opponents or supporters of Proposition 8 would like…

Let me be clear, the person who influenced me with is Governor Jesse Ventura. I think it is he that came up with this concept.. We should be banning marriage outright and replacing all marriages that we have with civil unions!

I remember voicing out this position earlier and was rather ridiculed for it. But right now, following the blogs and comments on news site, our alternative does not sound so ridiculous anymore. Some of “my” people that would think of it being in terms of this being part of big government versus small government. The reason for my stance though is different.

I agree with people that claim that marriage is a religious and a cultural affair. That is why there are different rituals for different kind of marriages. Most Christians take their vow before a priest and are pronounced married. Russian Orthodox Christianity requires them to drink wine, while the Jews would have to break glasses. Hindus walk round a fire seven times to get married and Muslims tell it to their Imam. If marriage were the same shouldn’t the rituals be the same.

In fact, there are different laws for different kinds of groups within our country itself. Muslim men and some Christians are allowed to practice polygamy while it is a crime for others to do so. There are even some Tibetan customs that requires polyandry and are recognized in this country. Even some Christian sects allow all kinds of marriage and some allow only hetro-sexual marriage.

So why is there a ban on gay marriage? Three of the biggest religions in America are Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Majority of their sects consider homosexuality a sin. Hence, by forcing marriage as a whole to be forcefully recognized by all religions, we are infringing on their religious rights. By not allowing two Buddhists to marry in a Buddhist ceremony, we are also infringing on their rights as well.

So what should we do? Why in the world is the government coming into religion and telling us what we can and cannot believe in our religion? If we believe that marriage is to be only between a man and a woman., let us believe so. If we believe that marriage can be gay, let us believe so. Isn’t freedom of religion a tenet of American freedom.

But the government should grant us the rights of civil unions with our partners. We need them. For example, when a person dies without the will, a spouse should have the right to claim the property and the kids. As of now, it is the parent or the sibling of a gay individual that would get it. There is also the topic if divorce and separation settlements that gays cannot have.

So basically, we want the term marriage today to be converted into civil unions. Hence, the churches and mosques can have their religious rights protected and can kick gays out of their religion. Gays can enjoy equal rights while the religious institutions can ensure that gays not get married. Of course, the crazy right-wingers would go crazy with this and many gays would not be happy with it either. But as a whole, I think that this is a good compromise with both sides having their way.

Personally, I used to be against gay marriage. That changes while I was in the Army. I knew gay soldiers and I realized that they weren’t the sissy-boy perverts that I thought them out to be when I was younger. They are just like any other soldier, like any other human being. That is why I am okay with them marrying each other.

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