Conversation with a co-worker today-Gay Marriage will lead to marrying pet

[noahmijo]

First off I am not posting this to put this guy up for flame fodder-if anything it just sickens me and drives me nuts that a guy who at the core is decent could make some of the remarks he made today.

I want to point out in fairness that this guy is a staunch Mexican Catholic (I'm just of Mexican descent) who hates Bush, opposes the Iraq War, believes strongly in helping the poor, and supports humane regulations when it comes to illegal immigration.

Sounds like one of us doesn't he? Then the topic of Gay Marriage comes up and he states he believes that gay marriage would absolutely destroy the sanctity of it.

This came as no surprise to me as this is how it is with many Mexican Catholics out here...their hearts are in the right place overall but they just cannot and will never get over the gay marriage and abortion hump and they loudly use those as the wedge issues that they are.

Anyways he went further to say that gay marriage would lead to people being able to marry their pets? "When does it end??"


My response was typical I asked how a notion like that can even be considered logical given that:

1. A pet is a completely different species, gays may be doin it same gender style but they are human beings the same.
2. What benefits would you possibly get by marrying a pet? "Yea I married Fido last week for the insurance benefits! he's a cop ya know, well he helps them at least"


Naturally he didn't have much to say to that, but I told him anyway that my issue is not so much that gay marriage is a passion of mine that I must see legalized immediately it's that we have so much bigger issues at hand that it sickens and saddens me that the near religious majority in this country demand that non-issues like this take center-stage.

Then he started telling me about marriage being sacred you know done before God, ect to which I said that if marriage is so sacred why not outlaw divorce? why not stop Britney Spears from having another drive-thru wedding or better yet stop Rush from marrying for a 4th freaking time!

He actually chuckled at the last bit, but carried on the notion that this is the way the bible intends it and that I might want to think about changing my line of thinking if I would like to avoid the inferno basically.

My simple response was "Well if there is a god, he'd be a pretty sick bastard to want to burn me alive. I am good to my friends and family, I help and volunteer for those in need, I don't even eat any products that in some way came from an animal (Vegan) what more does God want from me? I mean who is to say this God you're talking about isn't some asshole imposter? what makes this god any any better than say Osiris or Apollo? I mean really how do you know you are right and the muslims are wrong or vice versa? you don't really know and that's the point you base your entire belief system on faith not facts, and that's fine if it makes you feel better about yourself or encourages you to do things, but when you try to mix it into political reality that is a deadly game and one that this country really REALLY needs to stop playing."




Did me no good of course and I wasn't about to believe my words sunk in at all but that's just the way it is, and why ultimately I don't know what to do. When the majority of this nation feels the need to justify nearly every vile act they commit on the notion that we were all created because some snake talked some naked woman into eating "forbidden" fruit what the hell is the use in trying anymore?

Well for one we've been through worse (The Puritans) and two it is damn fun to watch the "true believers" squirm when they know they can't compete with FACTS.

I almost feel sorry for this guy I really do.

[joemurphy]

1. This is one of those silly "where do you draw the line" arguments.

I usually respond by saying: "Well, I know there is such a thing as twilight, but I can still tell night from day."

Let's let the ASPCA worry about bestiality. If it becomes a problem, we'll deal with it.

[libhill]

3. Or you could tell them -

that if we don't enact some sane gun control legislation, next thing ya know, we'll have kids carrying automatic weapons into schools. Oh yeah, never mind, that happens already -

[Cronus Protagonist]

8. I'm going to marry a Border Collie

They're very furry, eager to please, they work hard for almost nothing and they love to lick things.

Is that so wrong?




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[libhill]

11. I pre-fers

sheep mahself. Ever since them army folks done gave Diasy Lou her first pair of shoes, she been all uppity an' wants to leave me to go to Eye Raq and abuse them ragheads. Dang Librals probly git holt o' her and teach 'bout a-bortions an' such. Jaysus bless George Dubya Bush. An' don't talk bad bout them Republican fellers, they done gave me a good job down to the saw mill fer a dollar a day. So thar. An' ah ain't woorried bout no gas, ain't got no truck no how.

[Cronus Protagonist]

18. Take them to the edge of a ravine....

...they push back harder.



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[libhill]

25. Ravine?

Thought them thar ravines were some kinda bird? Dang libral fellers got too much book larnin' fer this ol' Bush luvin' country boy -

[Cronus Protagonist]

33. You must be one of these brazillions

One of the brazillions of people who think ravines can fly.

:evilgrin:

[adriennui]

23. you know my dog is always coming on to me

i'm going to divorce my husband and marry my gorgeous, young puppy. i know he loves me and i love him as wel

[Cronus Protagonist]

34. How do you know it's not just puppy love?

:)

[libhill]

2. The sad thing is

people like that are often one issue voters, and the Repukes play up to that big time -

[NewJeffCT]

26. I know a similar guy who is that way on guns

This guy has a crappy dead-end job, is in debt up to his eyeballs (and then some!), has health problems and lousy insurance... he's pro-choice, an avid reader, but he will never, ever vote for a Democrat. Why? Because, the NRA has so demonized Democrats as the ones that one to take his guns away and he just can't have that. He just loves his guns.

On most every other issue, he would agree with the Democratic side of things, too.

[libhill]

30. That's a good example

of the kind of people I was talking about - send my job to Asia, send my son or daughter or brother to Iraq to die in your illegal war for the profit of Halliburton, take my Social Security, and make damn sure I have little or no health insurance coverage. And while your at it, make sure your cronies in Big Oil make obscene profits at my expense. "But them dang nab Demmycrats ain't gonna git my AK 47, and ain't none them funny folks round here gonna git married. Gawd Bless America". I can almost picture a Repuke strategy session somewhere - "It's 'God, guns, gays', remember that. Keep them focused on that and we can screw the Great Unwashed big time. Now, back to my investment portfolio".

[msatty99]

4. This is a moronic discussion...but your friend can have his idiotic

beliefs if he wants to. Doesn't sound like a bad sort.
Nothing wrong with thinking marriage is sacred. etc.

Why the F are you wasting your time debating such a moronic
issue?

BTW I want to marry my f'ing parakeet.

[noahmijo]

10. sickass heathen you are

but then again it does have a pretty sexy beak eh?

[Cronus Protagonist]

21. I want to come to the wedding, then...

What's a good gift for a parakeet? A nut or fruit?



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[Lost-in-FL]

5. Look at the positive side

This men is probably thinking about what you said.

[TankLV]

6. If he made these remarks, he is NOT "at the core decent"!

He is a bigot, a fool and worse.

That is putting it mildly.

[cynatnite]

7. When I hear this argument, it makes me think that people like this...

believe gays do engage in acts of beastality. It shows a level of ignorance on their part when they engage in rhetoric like this. It also proves to me there is no reasoning with people like this. They've got their nose stuck so deep in the bible that they can't see the human beings god loves right in front of them.

[calmblueocean]

9. You gave it your best shot!

Your two rebuttals for why a person would marry a pet made me laugh.

I think the best way to reach good hearted religious people like this, though, is to stop discussing the word "marriage" and start discussing what it means. Ask the guy, if two gay people have lived together for 40 years, and one of them goes to the hospital, should the other one be able to go see him in the hospital? Almost always, a good hearted person will say, "yeah, I think so." Once they've accepted that, you've got them on the road to changing their thinking. You can talk about other disadvantages gays have that having marriage or some form of civil unions would change.

Right now, I'm for civil unions, because I'd rather gay couples be able to have healthcare and other benefits than be denied them for the sake of a word.

[noahmijo]

12. Since you brought this up you get the Director's Cut of the chat

One of the questions he asked me is why am I bothering to work to someday marry my girlfriend of 5 years?

My honest answer was well because the Christian government has imposed that in order to get certain benefits we have to be married. Things like insurance, tax breaks, discounts on rates for certain things like car insurance, ect otherwise it wouldn't make a damn difference to me really, I love her she loves me and nobody needs absolute proof of that except her and I. Sure the ceremony and all that is fun and all, but really it's all about what's in our hearts and minds because ceremonies are just that-ceremonies the work they do can be undone just as fast.

[Random_Australian]

13. Animals cannot give consent. Simple.

[noahmijo]

14. You're wrong about that. I could hire Dr. Dolittle to translate!

Non-believer scum pff.

:) ::sarcasm::

[rpannier]

15. He's a "factless" fan. That was o'lielly's talking point a year ago

tell your friends he's sooooooooo '05.

[frankenforpres]

16. your friend doesnt understand scalia's argument

scalia was using hyperbole to make a valid legal point. im pro gay marriage, but i haven't logically convinced myself why i should be against polygamy when all adults consent (since that is my argument to be pro gay marriage: consenting adults have the right to come to a contractual agreement)


as a political/moral point, i think scalia is dead wrong. as a legal point, i get his questioning of the logic that led to the decision.(i know the case wasnt a marriage case, but the consenting adults logic is what was used)

[Hippo_Tron]

17. ANIMALS CAN'T SIGN A MARRIAGE CONTRACT

Children can't sign a marriage contract, so there goes pedophilia. Inbreeding causes birth defects so there goes incest. So no, I really don't see how two consenting adults getting married will lead to no rules.

[Cronus Protagonist]

20. Can I marry your dog then?

You can sign for the dog. Just wondering if you have a Border Collie?



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[blue cat]

19. Did Rush marry Daryn?

I thought that he did. Wife no. 4/

[adriennui]

24. they broke up

daryn got smart.

[incapsulated]

22. Question.

Would he vote for Bush or the next repuke in a national election over this issue?

Because people like himself, who should be with us, voted for Bush in 2004 over this and it's rather alarming. What will they cook up next?

[NewJeffCT]

27. I bet he will - see my post above

on a friend who loves his guns.

[incapsulated]

29. At least with this guy....

And other latin Catholics, we can create our own wedge issue: Immigration!

:)

[kevinbgoode]

28. you might first suggest that sex with animals has always

been a problem attributed to heterosexual men. . .and then when he pulls the bible marriage lie again, ask him if he saved (is saving) himself for marriage. . .or is the bible only applicable to other people?

Oh yeah..and it wouldn't hurt to point out that we live in a country governed by the Constitution, not the bible, and not only by those passages persecuting others while overlooking those which should deprive himself of civil rights. And that same-sex couples are technically already living in common-law marriages, whether he likes it or not - and the bible says nothing about providing 1000 state benefits to heterosexual marriages. Maybe ask him if we should dump all those special rights for heterosupremacists because they aren't listed in the bible. And then suggest we should dump our system of government too, because the Bible clearly recognizes kings instead of congresses.

[ruggerson]

31. Ask him if he puts his wife in the barn while she's menstruating

because if he doesn't, the fucker's going straight to hell.

[ruggerson]

32. While you're at it

you can ask him all these questions, since it's important to live by the bible:

a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

[iamthebandfanman]

35. the sanctity has already been destroyed

and i point that out to anyone who says gay marriage would destroy it ...
all you hafta do is look at the divorce and see that the sanctity was destroyed along long long time ago. lol.