Canadians not afraid of homos
In a landmark ruling today, the Canadian Supreme Court has declared homosexual marriage constitutional.
However, the court added that religious officials cannot be forced to perform unions against their beliefs.
Which had, for some reason, been a controversial issue. I'm no expert on Canadian Law, but this last part seems awfully reasonable.
If approved by a majority of the House of Commons, as widely expected, Canada would become the third country to embrace marriage by homosexuals and lesbians. Belgium and the Netherlands are the other two.
There was a day when America was the pioneer when it came to human rights. Is our colleague Andrew correct in believing we're now experiencing the age of America's decline?
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6 Comments:
Let me preface by saying, I have no problem with Homosexuals having every single right Heterosexuals enjoy including marriage...to a point.
Yet I still consider myself a proud homophobe.
Let me ask you a few questions.
Lets say your only siblings are two brothers. One of them is married to a woman, and the other one lives with his homosexual partner. If you have young children and you and your spouse die in a car wreck...which brother would you want to raise your children?
Do you think Gay men should be allowed to adopt a male child?
If your sitting a Red Wings game with your Children, and the two men in front of you start kissing on each other, and your children ask you about it later, are you going to explain that behavior as "normal" and something that you would not be disappointed in them with if they turned out that way?
If you were an employer, and you discovered one of your employees was gay, and that made you uncomfortable being around him, should you be allowed to fire him because of that, or should you be legally forced to live with your discomfort?
Bottom line....do you really think its normal human behavior, or do you think its a violation of the laws of nature that should at least be discouraged?
Aren't you glad your parents were not gay?
Here is my take...I dont care what legislation my government enacts, they will never convince me its not wrong, and they will never force me to accept homosexual behavior as normal. If being a homophobe becomes illegal...I will remain a fugitive.
And I will teach my children that it is abnormal, and a sure-fire method of assuring their disowning, yet somehow I dont "feel" evil about my perspective....I feel normal.
Man, I left a comment here a couple of hours ago.
Did you delete it, or did it never show up here?
Regarding whether homosexuality goes against the laws of nature - it does not. First, humans are not the only animals that have been known to have same sex relations. Second, there is a growing body of biological evidence that suggests that homosexuality in fact has a biological (as opposed to a psychological) cause. If it does have a biological cause, then how can it be against the laws of nature? Finally, there was a time in human history when homosexuality was not only accepted, but also encouraged. Check out how the Spartans trained their young men and women, for instance.
Red,
I see two messages by you here. If there was another, I didn't delete it-- I don't know what happened. I appreciate all comments-- nothing you said was offensive or out of line. And thanks for being frank.
Here's my response to that first comment (posted at 2:55 A.M. my time):
I'm not so sure how "proud" you should be of your homophobia, but of course you feel normal about it-- most folks feel that their beliefs are reasonable. I can't necessarily say that I believe your take is reasonable (you'll probably think mine is unreasonable as well), but it is understandable. If normal means in line with a majority of Americans, then I can say with certainty that my views are not normal. I can only hope to explain my position with patience and confidence, and hope people eventually come over to my side.
... which brother would you want to raise your children?The one who I thought would be a better parent -- but being homosexual or living with a homosexual partner wouldn't disqualify any brother of mine from taking care of my children if I were to pass on. There are already gay parents bringing up children nowadays, and I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that it somehow encourages them to be gay. I agree with Chuck that homosexuality is biological -- I was not taught heterosexuality, I felt it, I must say, with every fiber of my being and I can only reason that it's the same way for those who are homosexual. I've had some gay friends and they've confirmed this to me.
Why anyone would choose to be homosexual, with all of the prejudice and hate directed at gays, I can't even begin to imagine.
Do you think Gay men should be allowed to adopt a male child?Yes. As long as they fulfill the same requirements that heterosexual parents must meet. I think it's better that children grow up in loving homes, than in an orphanage. Gay parents can provide the same caring and nurturing environment that straight ones can.
are you going to explain that behavior as "normal" and something that you would not be disappointed in them with if they turned out that way?I would not teach my children that it was something to hate or be afraid of. I would teach them that when the time comes, they will have feelings for someone special, and I'll love them no matter who they choose for a partner.
I would certainly not be disappointed in my child for being who he/she was. My child being gay just doesn't scare me. What scares me is my child not being happy, or being forced to hide his/her identity from his/her own father. With so many folks out there who hate gay folk, my child (if gay) will always, always have me on his/her side.
should you be allowed to fire him because of that, or should you be legally forced to live with your discomfort?Just as I believe that you shouldn't be able to fire someone for being black or Asian or Jewish or Polish, I don't think you should be able to fire someone for being gay. Allowing business owners to do that would immediately bring down wages for gays, since they would be free to say that their gay employees made them "uncomfortable" as soon as they gained enough seniority for a promotion. Since many gays are highly skilled and educated people, that could lead bad news for the job market in general.
That's in case you were looking for practical reasons for encouraging equal labor rights. -- It's also the right thing to do.
Why knowing that someone puts his penis in a different place than you could make someone so uncomfortable that it affects his working relationship with him is beyond me.
If it's because you're afraid that he's into you, then you need to calm down. If it's because he's coming on to you, and you've made it clear that you're not interested, then he should be fired immediately.
Aren't you glad your parents were not gay?Well, nobody's biological parents were gay, so I'm glad they were not gay in the sense that I was born.
If I try a thought experiment, pretending that my parents had been exactly the same, in every way, except that they had been either both men or women, then I can imagine that I would indeed be different than I am now: I would be much more active in the gay rights movement. Living in a culture where my folks were constantly made fun of, discriminated against, and attacked by the church is the type of thing that would -- due to my stubborn character, which has nothing to do with my sexuality -- make me an even more ardent fighter.
But I surely wouldn't be gay myself -- Nothing could change that about me.
Bottom line....do you really think its normal human behavior, or do you think its a violation of the laws of nature that should at least be discouraged?Like Chuck said, I do believe it is normal human behavior. Scientists haven't proven why homosexuality occurs, but my guess is that it has something to do with overpopulation. When a species becomes to many, then its food supplies run low, and famine and even war ensue. There's a danger that the whole species could lose out. Perhaps homosexuality is evolution's natural population explosion regulator. When you remember that we have no natural predators, perhaps be thankful that we have homosexuals around!
And, as I mentioned above, they can also serve a societal purpose as parents for those children whose parents aren't there or are in no shape to raise them.
I have spiritual feelings about it as well. I believe that God put gay folks among us to challenge us: to challenge our prejudices against our reason, and his message that we love our neighbor; to challenge us to be fair with everyone, despite our superficial differences.
Can someone PUUUULLLLEEEEEEEZZZZZ tell me how to put other people's comments in italics on this thing, and make it so they don't run into my answers? Is it a problem with the italics tag? unfortunately, blogger won't seem to accept the "cite" tag, nor will it accept the "break" tag or the "p" tag when I'm commenting. I don't experience this problem when I'm writing posts.
Both of my above comments didn't appear here until several hours after I posted them. I guess Blogger's comment server was runnin slow last night.
I have noticed Blogger comments dont allow the use of the break tag. I think it might automatically converts "Hard Returns". try doing 2 hard returns before you start typing response.
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