tvashtarkatena

I (try to) draw the line where (I believe) the constitution draws the line. Equal protection, separation of church and state. That, I believe, provides the maximum liberty for all involved with the least amount of government intrusion. Religions can practice what they will, homosexuals (or whatever other group happens to be the 'target of the day') can pursue happiness and enjoy the same rights as everyone else, and I can continue to spew bullshit on Spray. When I was a Catholic, I was apparently taught to view Christ's teachings in a way very similar to what you've described as your own, and, although I'm no longer a member of the fold, I still believe that, as far as the progress of a free society is concerned, that is a very positive and healthy viewpoint. Unfortunately, many of your religious bretheran have chosen to believe everything from God Hates Gays to God Will Make Me Rich. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to separate the those who subscribe in a loving god from those who use god for self-serving purposes.

All posts are in the author's opinion, by definition. Personally, I don't care about what goes on inside a religious sect. I'm not at all interested in the biblical basis for this belief or that. And whether or not hate and intolerance are rife within the organization, it doesn't really matter to me...as long as it's kept out of public policy. That is where I draw the line. Similarly, individuals are free to be as prejudiced as they want...as long as they don't practice such behavior in the public domain. If a religious sect enforces a 'no gay' policy, it is within their rights to do so. Perhaps they'll be the last ones standing when Jesus rides triumphant down from heaven brandishing his shimmering sword to smite the wicked.

Voters could have avoided the Iraq mess by choosing the more principled candidate two and six years ago. Instead, too many of them were driven by the same cultural filter that clouds your thinking.

Society should definitely work towards creating healthy home environments for children. Rather than focus on preventing divorce (which can lead to the prolonging of an unhealthy home environment), organizations that care about this issue should focus on helping folks to create healthy partnerships, regardless of sexuality, in the first place. An ideal home has patience, love, and understanding. It is free from violence. That is far more important to a child's welfare than what sex the parents are or whether one parent is missing.

Where have the voters been the last six years? Fucking pussies.

You're so very logical.

There's a whole lotta stuttering going out over the airwaves right now.

For any of you Montanans out there thinking of a visit to Seattle, there's a fridge full of free beer waiting for you at my house.

When I was in the fourth grade I recall Ms. Evoy, our kooky Canadian teacher, celebrating then recent statements from Ronald Reagan (then running for CA governor) that the next time protesters laid down in front of his motorcade he was going to run over them. At that point, I became a Democrat. To date, the Republicans haven't given me a single reason to look back.

If certain christian sects don't sanction equality for homosexuals, tough toenails. Establish your own fundamentalist religious state somewhere else. This is America. We have a constitionally codified seperation of church and state, and an equal protection clause. If I have to hold my nose to coexist with people of your prejudiced viewpoint, you can certainly return the favor by tolerating homosexuals. No one has suggested that your sect should be forced to admit homosexuals. Practice what you will, believe what you want, and allow other folks, including homosexuals, to do the same. According to your own logic, your cult would also need to outlaw gluttony, selfishness, etc (sins but are certainly not crimes) to avoid your god's wrath. Good luck with achieving and enforcing that in the nation of Esplanades and McMansions.

On second thought, why should gays be allowed to marry? I mean, haven't they suffered enough?

If you're good enough on a keyboard you'll get both.

But it's a good thing that those who can't seem to manage the english language think in them...

Brevity works, too.

Here's a link that provides the statistics to back up my point: Oregonians and Gay Marriage

No, just people who generalize my statements as you just did...

OK; religious conservatives and morons.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Saturday that Bush's latest argument does not reflect a real shift...."But there is the realistic strategic concern that if a country with such enormous oil reserves and the corresponding revenues you can derive from that is controlled by essentially a terrorist organization, it could be destabilizing for the region." ...and we surely wouldn't want that to happen.

AT, check out www.fueleconomy.com if you haven't already. MPG has gone down. Lax inforcement of fleet mileage standards, non-inclusion of trucks/SUVs, and Cali backing off of its mandates are all factors during the Clinton/Bush admins. Import restrictions also played a role (bigger cars make more money). Civics get mid to upper 30s, but that's about as good as you're going to get unless you get a hybrid. My friend's Prius gets 50, but it's $$$. Roomy, though. Nice car. Diesel VWs are also upper 40s, if you want to go that route.

Dances with Wolves

"Jellicle Cats come out tonight Jellicle Cats come one, come all The Jellicle Moon is shining bright Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball..."

Well, I was going to ignore ericb's desire to legalize man on dog, but now that you brought it up He just wants to talk about it...

Conservation should always be step 1. We've just barely started.

Just beat it.

I've got my best William F. Buckley game face on today...