The sanctity of marriage

Posted byCynthiaYockey 9 Comments on The sanctity of marriage

So, if I understand this correctly, the current primary rationale against same-sex marriage equality is that the spouses involved cannot directly conceive children with one another, but straight people can marry ANYONE of the opposite sex, whether or not they intend to have children together, up to and including a person of the opposite sex who does not, as a practical matter, ACTUALLY EXIST?

H/T Hot Air headlines.

9 replies on “The sanctity of marriage”

  1. Ya know. This is the one sticky wicket that keeps me from joining the Conservative movement. Oh, there are other things I don’t completely agree about. Like the “Right to Life” fanaticism. But, at least I *understand* how an intelligent person may want to extend Constitutional rights to a fertilized ovum. There is moral consistancy to the argument… whether I agree with it or not. KWIM?

    But this whole thing about denying Constitutional rights to gay people is baffling. It does not really fit within a Conservative mindset. It’s a glaring inconsistancy that will need to be rectified before I can really jump on board…

    1. SYD,

      The reason I was able to join the Conservative movement is that I found out that all I had to support was fiscal conservatism. The Conservative tent is pretty big and includes fiscal conservatives who are social liberals; fiscal conservatives who are social conservatives — these are the ones who like to pose as the face of conservatism, but that’s not the reality; and libertarians. Conservatives have a more elaborate taxonomy, but I have not been able to remember the finer sub-categories.

      There is totalitarianism on both the Right and the Left, but it seems to have absorbed the entire Left now so that the idealists — PUMAs like you and HillBuzz — feel betrayed and bewildered. George Orwell laid out the paradigm perfectly in Animal Farm. The idealists on the Left are like the animals in the barn.

      The totalitarianism on the Right seems to me to be concentrated in social conservatism, although they have their idealists, too, who are not totalitarian.

      But it seems to me people on the Right have better boundaries than Lefties do because they allow people to have different beliefs provided they all share the common ground of fiscal conservatism. Lefties have no way to understand this because the diversity on the Left is superficial — race, color, religion, sexual orientation — while the totalitarian insistence on ideological conformity is absolute. Go read Phyllis Chesler on how she got thrown out for challenging the Left. Margaret and I were thrown out in 1996 for our six-year campaign to get Passages, an annual conference for older lesbians, which was led by lesbians who were at the very top of the disability rights movement, TO CHOOSE MEETING PLACES THAT MET FEDERAL GUIDELINES FOR WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBILITY.

      So — I am accepted as a conservative because I support capitalism and I know there is a tipping point of taxation and government intrusion that destroys the ability of individuals to reach their full potential. As icing on the cake, I support Second Amendment rights and energy independence and I reject climate change/anthropomorphic global warming. I lived in a community that was overwhelmed by illegal aliens, with the result that I support border security and the immediate deportation of all illegal aliens (this has to do with their opposition to equality for women and gays AND BREAKING OUR LAWS AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION). However, I support full legal equality for homosexuals (same-sex marriage equality, right to adopt, right to serve openly in the military, etc.). I am pro-choice. And I oppose the teaching of the religious doctrines of Creationism and Intelligent Design in public schools and at any university because they are factually wrong.

      You can see that’s quite a mixed bag. I get to have all those opinions on the Right and I’m still welcome. There may be heated discussions, but I haven’t encountered the physical attacks and psychotic episodes and scorched earth personal destruction campaigns that I got on the Left FOR TRYING TO HOLD THEM TO THEIR STATED IDEALS.

      Also, you are right about the disconnect in Conservatism about believing in liberty and equality but denying it to homosexuals. I am working to connect Conservatives to their ideals so they see it is consistent with their ideals to support equality for homosexuals.

      Does that help?

      Cynthia

      P.S.

      If you get an RSS feed, let me know — I would like to add your blog to my newsfeed, but I just tried and it won’t work with an Atom feed.

  2. So-called social conservatives (or as they should be called, “Big Government For Jesus” types) are more than willing to embrace collectivism if it suits their purposes.

    1. SYD,

      Well, it turns out you are conservative enough to fit in just fine, if you ever care to come on over. Last December, as I recall, Obama said he would be purging the Democratic party of moderates, and it looks like he’s keeping his promise with his “my way or the highway” ultimatums whenever he’s really put on the spot to declare a position, so I’ll be making space for y’all just in case you feel like dropping by to check us out.

      Thanks for the RSS — check the newsfeed near the bottom.

      I wish Peter’s RSS feed for Shakey Pete’s Shootin’ Shack didn’t break the newsfeed — I spent hours trying to make it work and couldn’t figure it out. I think I needed to shorten it to feeding just 10 posts at a time, but couldn’t find the control that would let me do that on his dashboard on Blogger. (He gave me access so I could try.) If my Blogger-using readers have suggestions, I would love to have them.

      Cynthia

  4. Cynthia,

    Wishing you and your entire family a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving!
    I hope your father’s found the right level of medication that works for him, and is able to enjoy a relatively pain-free life. Quality of life and one’s state of mind mean everything as we age.

    1. Ad rem,

      Thank you! I wish you and your family a joyful Thanksgiving and every blessing always!

      Dad’s back is feeling better, so he hasn’t been asking for pain medication. He’s also getting around better, although his physical therapist told him he must switch to using a walker instead of a quad cane. He was leaning too much on the cane — they are really more to help with balance than be a support. However, he can get around more quickly with the walker, which he likes. And when we went to get the groceries for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, he was gleeful about using the motorized cart to go all over the store. It’s been awhile since he’s needed it, but he likes having the option and the ease and freedom of movement it gives him.

      Cynthia

  5. Cynthia, don’t forget this oddity: the “marriage” of novitiate nuns and Sisters to Christ. Oh yeah. Wedding rings, white dresses, the whole bit. I grew up Catholic, and it always creeped me out as a kid. It seemed like such a perversion of matrimony!

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