Mike on Homosexuality, Marriage, Religion, and Other Stuff.
Apr 24 '05
The Bottom Line It's a struggle living like a good boy oughta, in the summer, watching all the girls pass by...
The story: Once upon a time, lemon_lime hosted a write-off about homosexuality, religion, and marriage. A young man named Michael decided to contribute to share his opinions and generally be stupidly controversial. The end!
What are your spiritual beliefs or religious affiliations?
I'm technically a baptized Catholic, but I've never even been inside a church (besides weddings and funerals) in my life. When I was a bratty younger teenager, I identified myself an atheist because it was all the rage to hate God and the whole "You're going to hell for being gay," thing. Now I settle for agnosticism, because I truly believe there's no way to prove God's existence one way or another.
What is your sexual orientation?
I'm homosexual, or because I hate the way that word sounds so stupidly politically correct, I'm gay and absolutely sure that I'm gay. There was never any confusion or a period where I was "bisexual," or anything. Once my hormones fired up during puberty, I had always been into guys and that's just the way things were.
How do you see your own religious/spiritual views as influencing your opinion of sexuality?
Well, I'm sure that if I was really religious as a child, things in my life might have turned out differently. I'd probably still be gay, because that's just not something you can really change, but either one of two things would have most likely happened: 1) I'd probably struggle to force myself to be "straight," because my religious beliefs would have said being gay was wrong, or 2) I'd be loving and accepting of everybody, as I've seen many faithful people do, so I'd be able to deal with it.
(Required)
How do you define marriage?
I personally hate marriage. Why do you need the government to say that you and somebody else are going to be together forever? You can do that without the wonderful piece of paper saying you're man and wife (or another combination) or the messy divorces. Sure, the benefits are nice, but I've always thought marriage was a crock. I do define it is "the government recognizes our union and wants to give us benefits for it," though.
What thoughts or reactions do you have to these two pictures?
1. http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2004/03/10/ba_knight01.jpg
-It's lovely. That minister is kind of scary looking, though. And the guys should be kissing.
2. http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2004/02/13/ba_gaywed_01_lm.jpg
-Why do the old ladies get to hug and kiss instead of the hot younger guys? It's still beautiful.
(I got the questions mixed up and answered the next question for the above two pictures, so I'll just rearrange my words and respond to the same question twice).
Well, some people would object both of those pictures, first of all, it's important to mention that. But since it looks like the gay men are in the church and getting legally "married," then yeah, people would most likely be more offended by the one of the men. It just looks like the women are having a civil union and hugging. The current hot topic is the whole gay marriage thing, not gay unions, so the men are causing more controversy. As for my reaction? It makes me sad that some people are so offended by what two men or women do in their private lives.
How does one of Christian faith reconcile these two pictures? Is one “right” and one “wrong”? What reactions do you have to seeing these signs?
1. http://www.sushiesque.com/photos/boston_common_031104/dscn1373.jpg
2. http://www.sushiesque.com/photos/boston_common_031104/dscn1419.JPG
I'm sure different people would have different opinions to both pictures. Some people would agree with the signs in the second picture when looking at the protesters in the first picture, that you need to love everybody; people who agree with the first picture probably wouldn't care about the second picture because they feel for whatever reasons that homosexuality is immoral. Or there's a medium between both sides. As to my reactions to the pictures? Well, I hope I'm reading the opinions correctly, but I agree with the second one and the "justice for all," and even though I'm not religious, that quote by Jesus. The first picture? Let's just say I'd like to run those guys over in a giant pink cadillac.
Why do you think the topic of homosexuality is so polarizing in religious communities?
Well, the two sides have already been touched in different questions of this write-off. To me, it looks like some religious people think you should love and accept everybody for who they are, and then there's the other side that think homosexuality is wrong and I'm going to hell for liking men. It's polarizing because you have two completely different opinions formed under the same religion. I guess it's how they personally read different lines from the Bible or something similar.
Should the government be in the business of defining marriage? Why or why not?
My gut instinct is to say "no," especially under Bush, because he just wants to run his own agenda and keep men from marrying men and women from marrying women. But there's a constitutional issue when it comes to gay marriage, and that's equality, so the government should be involved. To me, it's like this: a man and a man should have just as much right to work benefits and such as a man and a woman do. And when you get to that issue of equality, people begin to ask if it's constitutional that gay couples aren't having the same opportunities as straight couples, and it's really not. So I do believe government should be involved because it has to.
Would you support the legalization of gay marriage?
Yeah, sure. Like I said, I personally hate marriage, so I'd never do it, but we should have just as much right to marry who we want as straight people do.
If you answered no, what are your fears behind its legalization? If you answered yes, what are your fears behind it remaining illegal?
My fears? Well, if they take away our right to marry, they'll start to take away some more of our rights. Do you think I'm making things up? I just read that the state of Texas passed a law that prevented foster children from being adopted by homosexual or even bisexual foster parents. Do you see badly some people don't like gay people? They'd rather have children out on the streets or in foster homes than with a loving supporting family that would "corrupt," them with (acceptance of) homosexuality.
Would you support government-sanctioned civil unions between homosexual couples?
I think that's a very compromise considering the circumstances. If people want to be anal and scream to us that "Marriage is defined as between a man and woman!," well then just give us our benefits and recognition as being united under the government's eyes, and that's a pretty fair place to start. Of course some will still whine and complain that it's not real marriage between homosexuals, but it's a lot better than nothing at all, you have to admit.
Do you see any way of bridging this current divide in our country over "wedge issues," like gay marriage or abortion? Or should we even be trying?
We should definitely be trying. Did African Americans gain equality by just going "Oh, that's just the way things are, we can't change what the white guys want for us." Did women just sit back and wait for their right to vote to fall in their laps? No, both African Americans and women had to fight for their rights, and so do homosexuals and (since abortions were mentioned) pregnant women to have their rights to marry and abort if they so choose. The issues will eventually be bridged, just like similar issues of the past have been resolved, or at least ideally I'd like to think they would.
What do you see America's view of homosexuality and gay marriage being in 100 years from today? What will those future Americans think of us in 2005, as they look back?
Well, like I said, these issues do need time. There's been large strides toward accepting the gay community in the last twenty years alone. By 2105, people will be even more accepting and I honestly think that by then gay marriage will be legal. They'll look back at 2005 and say, "Hmm, yeah, those people were really trying to make a difference back then. It's because of them I'm able to marry the person I love in the present."
Final thoughts or ideas:
Have you ever watched your best friend die?
Have you ever watched a grown man cry?
Some say that life isn’t fair.
I think that people just don’t care.
They’d rather turn the other way.
Wait for this “thing” to go away.
Why do we have to pretend?
Some day I pray that it will end.
I hope it’s in this lifetime.”
-Madonna (come on, I had to include her SOMEWHERE in this).
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pt-paratroopa
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Member: Mike Slapp
Location: NY
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