Quote:blatham wrote:
The organizations and individuals most active in this campaign to create state ballot initiatives, and those forwarding the constitutional ammendment are either 1) theology-based or 2) partisan Republican (usually both).
thomas: I am not surprised, and I take your word that this is so. I just don't think it follows that "the anti-gay marriage movement is homophobic". In my opinion, you are merely observing the predictable fact that the individuals and organizations most active in any campaign tend to be the zealots, and this is no exception. Using the logic you used in this thread, I could easily defend the thesis that "the environmentalist movement is a doomsday cult". From the Club of Rome's Limits to Growth to Independence Day and its enthusiastic reception amon environmentalists, I could cite a cornucopia of evidence for this proposition. Nevertheless, it would be unfair of me to draw this conclusion about the broader environmentalist movement -- just as unfair as your conclusions about the broad spectrum of gay marriage opponents.
Well, thomas, you are almost there.
The difference, or course, between the anti-gay marriage movement and the environmental movement (or many others like it, the union movement, the anti-corporate movement, etc) is the element of cultural sexual taboo. If no taboo against homosexuality existed in American culture this simply would not be an issue of any significance for politicians nor the electorate. This thread wouldn't exist and we'd all be elsewhere; you detailing the lies the Bush administration is propogating on Social Security, george writing posts with 'navy' capitalized, dadothree alerting us to the satanic cults murdering babies in the woods of Pennsylvania (even as we speak!), Helen providing high-level projections on the minimal consequences of wind-blown irradiation of neighboring countries after the Koreas, north and south, were nuked for the dog thing, LW would be giving the rest of us valuable tips on the seduction of CIA agents and I'd be lighting a bowl. We'd all be having a lot more fun.
