@ancestor (and by extension @Gervase Markham):
I recognize the internal consistency of your argument against gay marriage; I used to make the same argument. It took me years to get past what amounted to knee-jerk homophobia brought on by a lifetime of religious indoctrination.
Try this: Make the same argument, but substitute "bi-racial" for "homosexual". Roll that around a bit and see how it feels. It's the same language used to defend segregation and "anti-miscegenation" laws in the US until about a generation ago.
It boils down to claiming "separate but equal" is good enough. It isn't.
As I see it, unless you are willing to declare only English Christians should be allowed to marry people (i.e. give the CoE a monopoly on "marriage" in the UK), you're arguing inconsistently. If Hindus, atheists, and Jedi can get married, you've already acknowledged that people with multiple gods, no gods, and professing a belief in a Sci-Fi religion are just as entitled to "marriage" as Christians.
Explain how gays (whom several religions are more than willing to wed) differ.
Quoting you: "So yeah, I agree with KaiRo that many left-wingers have perfected the paradoxical art of acting intolerant under the pretense of defending tolerance."
Your argument boils down to "I don't want people telling me I can't tell them what they can and can't do." The GOP has been using that same reasoning to play the victim for years, and it's no less disingenuous today than it was when the Moral Majority first tried it on for size.
I am very tolerant of beliefs, opinions, prejudices, etc., and everyone's rights to express them. I have no such tolerance for acts of oppression, though, no matter how they are couched in terms of "defending cultural norms" or "religious freedom".
I don't care what your god told you; you don't get to force me to live by its rules. This is true for all variations of "you", "me", and "god".
@KaiRo:
Quoting you this time: "I'm shocked once again how everything not conforming to 'elite' far-left-wing views is being seen as rude, backwards, and unacceptable."
I'm center-right by most European standards, but if you want to label me a far-left-wing elitist because I recognize the inherent equality of all people, that's fine. As I said, I'm big on freedom of speech.
Call me a leftist all you like. I'm still right.
2012-03-08 22:36