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Behavior Trumps the Label of "Orientation"
Labelling a person as 'gay' or 'straight' connotes particular behavior which is deemed 'wired'. But the big issue which Saletan slightly implies is: human freewill determines behavior before and beyond 'orientation' or 'wiring'. ''Wiring'' refers to blinking, breathing, heart rates, so forth. Everything else humans have to learn, ...
Posted to Human Nature by Usama3 on April 1, 2009
No hatred here
''Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderers have eternal life in them.'' 1 John 3:15 Heavy language. The Roman Empire Jesus was born into had gay sex but Jesus concentrated on saving souls. What good does it do to make a sinner well behaved (relatively) if the sinner is still going to hell? Gay ...
Posted to XX Factor by GuessWho on December 23, 2008
Equal protection, the rule of law, freedom and Gays
Your analysis misses the point. Our founding national values are freedom and equality. Our Constitution requires equal protection. The rule of law requires that laws be rational and not arbitrary nor merely an expression of majoritarian prejudice. Any law that discriminates against a discrete class of Americans should and must rationally serve an ...
Posted to Jurisprudence by Issywise on November 18, 2008
ORIGINAL SKIN
Saletan's conclusion that reason will overturn bigotry has a flaw. Bigotry is not based on reason. All bigotry, even religous based bigotry, is based on ignorance. Education can only make a difference if one is open to reasonable thinking. Are Islamic militants and white supremacists anti-semetic because they haven't been educated enough about ...
Posted to Human Nature by trilium4 on November 17, 2008
Immutability Schmootability
In the matter of gay civil rights, why should it matter whether or not homosexuality is genetic? Human beings are famous for going against the grain (whether that grain tends toward the gay or the straight). Doesn't this country protect individual rights, including the right of the individual to choose the partner and create the family and ...
Posted to Human Nature by PipoNYC on November 15, 2008
Speaking of analogies...
Richard Ford uses the example of the Lovings here in Virginia. While this example does show the severe penalties the Lovings faced by marrying, Ford neglects to bring up the severe penalties my partner and I face without the protection of marriage. Not only do we not have guaranteed hospital visitation, but ANY contract we make with each other ...
Posted to Jurisprudence by okieturtle on November 15, 2008
Gay Marriage and the Race Analogy
The racism analogy isn't perfect or exact and probably should not be the only one used. However, until a better analogy can be made, and I don't see the writer of this article offering any suggestions, it's going to stick! A complicating factor will be the many bigots of all races and creeds who refuse to accept the growing body of evidence that ...
Posted to Jurisprudence by Chaordic on November 14, 2008
Re: The Tyranny of the Majority
Clearly the issue is not sexual preferences since those exist in any case. The issue is: who gets to share the benefits of the institution of civil marriage? Again, gay and lesbian relationships exist (and yes, they are dissolved, just like straight relationships). Even if you hate gays and lesbians (and I hope you do not), there should be a legal ...
Posted to Jurisprudence by PipoNYC on November 8, 2008
Re: Gay marriage
Homosexual acts are natural because they occur in the human population. They are as natural as ballet and baseball. As self-determining human beings or, if you prefer, as Americans, we have the right to engage in homosexual activity and even self-identify as gay or lesbian if that is what we choose. Get used to it!
Posted to Jurisprudence by PipoNYC on November 8, 2008
The Tyranny of the Majority
With so many causes worth fighting for in this country, I was ashamed and disgusted to see so many people take up, as a legitimate cause, the fight against gay marriage. Was not their goal, after all, to strip a minority group of a constitutionally upheld civil right? The fervor with which some religious groups prayed for the passage of ...
Posted to Jurisprudence by PipoNYC on November 8, 2008

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