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Final Crazy Rantings Regarding Same-Sex Marriage

April 11, 2013 by Francis Flores   

I’m actually quite sad that this is the last civic issues blog for the year. It took a fair amount of time (approximately 2 hours) to decide what it is I wanted to write about. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to end with another story, or if I should go over the article about the Prop 8 debates, or even if I should talk about the Westboro Baptist Church (something I haven’t talked about in depth). After everything, though, I decided to go with a mixture of the last two.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that not all people who believe strongly in their religion are against same-sex marriage, but it’s the radicals like the people of the Westboro Baptist Church that gives them a bad name. When I was doing research for previous blog posts, I came across their website, one of their websites, anyway. Their website is titled godhatesfags.com. I wish I was lying. When I first saw the URL, I thought it was a parody of their real website, but after about an hour and a half of just surfing their website, I came to the sick realization that this was in fact their real website. I would include the actual link to take you to the website, but I just don’t have it in me. Honestly, I don’t see how their religious beliefs should have such a strong impact on something that isn’t going to hurt them. They use the Bible for justification, but the Bible was also used to justify slavery. It really goes both ways, and why gay marriage is still illegal in some states absolutely baffles me. For a place that’s known for equality and freedom, no one is really equal.

That’s my WBC rant. Here are other reasons I’ve heard that gay couples shouldn’t marry.

  1. “It would redefine and undermine traditional marriage!”
  2. “The only way to have a child is to have one man and one woman.”
  3. “If you allow them to marry, where does it stop?”
  4. Here’s my personal favorite: “This will let children think it’s okay to be gay!”

Here are my counterarguments, or rants, whatever they turn out to be.

  1. Wow, okay. If we were really to be going off of what “traditional marriage” is, then women would still be considered property and interracial couples would not be allowed to marry. As for undermining marriage? The things that are undermining marriage, and this is just my opinion, is divorce and short, glorified, celebrity marriages. I’m not even going to begin with those (I’m looking at you, Kim Kardashian). In the year 2011, 41% of “first” marriages ended in divorce.1 It’s insulting that someone could have a first, second, third marriage while claiming that because two people of the same sex are in love, they shouldn’t be allowed the same rights to marriage as they are. Bravo.
  2. This is one of my favorite arguments. I was actually watching a video2 and someone said this. I know that it is a true statement, but to use it as a reason to not allow someone to be married is harsh. Honestly, I laughed out loud when I watched this video, not because it was funny, but because I couldn’t wrap my head around some of the stuff that he said, including this. Like I said, yes, this statement is true, but it doesn’t affect the way the population grows or decreases. People will continue to procreate at their own rate and life will go on.
  3. This is actually a paraphrase of something someone said. Yes, believe it. It actually broke my heart when I found out it was Jeremy Irons (the voice of Scar in “The Lion King”) who, in an interview said “Could a father not marry his son?” The fact that he actually thinks that same-sex marriage could lead into any kind of incest-type relationship, is extremely insulting. It isn’t even remotely close. As if that wasn’t insulting enough, he then states “Living with another animal, whether it be a husband or a dog, is great… It’s lovely to have someone to love. I don’t think sex matters at all.”3 Wow, okay, so I guess they’re animals, too. Jeremy Irons, you murdered my childhood with this statement, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive you. That is all.
  4. This one is the best. Allowing the children to think it’s okay is fine. Do you know why? Because it is! I think that instead of teaching children to have such narrow-minded and self-righteous views on what you think is right and wrong, you should allow them to think for themselves and have their own opinions. Take my mom for example. Yes, my mom and I absolutely butt heads on this topic because, no surprise, she doesn’t agree with this idea either, but she lets me believe what I want to. Plus, what if your child happens to be gay? Could you even imagine the kind of pain he (or she) would go through knowing that their parents hated everything about his (or her) lifestyle? It’s the same thing as bullying.

I tried to choose arguments that weren’t religiously connected, so I hope I did a decent job. Not all religious groups are radical. Not everyone is close-minded. But this is a friendly reminder that, unfortunately, some people are. I hope you enjoyed this post. Sorry if it’s a bit long. Thank you for reading and remember, love is love.


2 Comments »

  1. Patrick Yan says:

    Interestingly enough, Shirley Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church does not actually strongly believe in the ideas she protests about. She can be seen in a number of videos speaking in a friendly manner to gay individuals who decide to discuss the issue with her. Her daughter has had a child out of wedlock, which directly opposes her “beliefs.”

    I honestly do not know what to think of the WBC. I almost regard them as a troll organization at this point, just there to generate a storm of hate.

  2. Ammara Ansari says:

    WHOA. That was probably the biggest rant about the topic that you’ve given out of all the four. Bravo on expressing yourself. I can’t believe this is your last blog post…OUR last blog post.

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