“None of those issues are incompatible with gay marriage/gay civil unions. Admittedly, I’m more concerned about the Iraq war and the health care system, too, although I suspect we have differing opinions there.”
—No, but lets suppose McCain was for gay marriage or gay civil unions while Obama and Clinton were against them, I would vote McCain because I consider his position in other, more important, issues to be more sound then theirs. Not perfect but good enough considering the options.
“So you support a bigot, then. Bush is a bigot, and a big part of his 2004 campaign especially was based on that. Plus, he is absolutely incompetent in everything he has attempted. He’s awful.”
— He was still the better choice in 2000 and in 2004. Like I said, I don’t find the gay issues to be important. Gays are not being “repressed” enough for it to seem inhumane. I just don’t care as much about gay rights as I do about the institution of marriage, as I see it.
“Um, you just contradicted yourself. A marriage is between one man and one woman or women in many cultures. Other cultures allow men to marry.”
No, I didn’t contradict myself. If a man is married to 6 women, how many marriage ceremonies did he go through? He went through 6 ceremonies and in each one he married one she. The point is he, in >99.999999999999999999% of all marriages in the history of mankind, married a she. That is pretty definitive in helping us come to understand what it means to get married. The fact that this tradition was put in place with a purpose, to keep society stable, is not obvious to you. Oh well. It is to me and most other Americans.
“We disagree here. I think Europe is a lot more free than our nation, and they do a lot of things better than us. And before you jump on me with “America, love it or leave it” – if I could afford to move there, I would.”
You show your colors here. Not only do you not love your country enough to want to live in it, if you had the choice, you simply have no clue about what Europe is about. You know that in Europe, if you defend your family in your home and you injure the robber, you can be jailed and will be fined and made responsible for their injuries (freedom of self defense)? Do you know that in Europe, if you are critical of a minority group, even if the facts and figures, obtained from disinterested sources, all point to your conclusion, and you have the gall to publish your ideas you will be brought up on charges of racism (freedom of the press)? Do you know that if you research events, gather material, and study facts that lead you to strongly believe that reports in the news are manufactured and distorting the narrative of certain events, you can be (and people have been) put on trial for defaming the character of the reporter(I’m blanking on the legal term for this but again, freedom of the press)? Did you know that, in Europe, if you had written about Muslims what it is you wrote about Christians on this post you could be brought up on charges of religious defamation (again, freedom of self expression)? Did you know that the Healthcare system in England is falling apart? Did you know that the Tax rates in Sweden, coupled with all the care-taking provided by the state has led to Swedes not having enough children to replenish the job market who could then be taxed at over 50% in order to pay for the pensions, healthcare and various other benefits owed to what would have been their parents? Did you know that this phenomenon, which we experience to a relatively minor degree in Social Security, is becoming more and more prevalent in the Welfare States of Europe? Do you know how expensive it is to live in Europe. I know you can’t afford to go right now. I’ve spent a decent amount of time in England, some time in Germany, have been to France and Spain, Holland and Switzerland, and know people from other parts of that continent and Europeans, those paid in Euros and Pound Sterling, are paying quite a bit for their daily living on top of the high taxes. Europe is a beautiful continent. The architecture is amazing. I know you find tradition to be a bit overblown but that is certainly one place with quite an interesting tradition. Its just too bad the Europeans are doing so little to preserve it.
Yes, I think that if I don’t want to hire a Jew because he is a Jew then I should be allowed not to hire them. I also think that my customers then have the right to stop patronizing my store because I refuse to hire Jews. I could then decide to hire Jews because of the marketplace or I could go out of business. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are codes for government conduct, not the conduct of citizens. The government is not allowed to discriminate according to race color or creed. I am allowed my prejudices. The government is responsible for keeping the streets safe, the country secure and the marketplace transparent. Once you get the government involved in anything else you are asking for trouble. One doesn’t see the trouble for a number of years or generations even but it’ll come.
