Enough with the “slippery slope” arguments

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Friday March 29, 2013 · 8:58 AM PDT

2013/03/29 · 08:58

In the last few days, several diaries have appeared proposing that marriage equality would / could /should lead to legal recognition of polygamous relationships. One diarist stated that he was in a relationship with 2 women and they all wanted to be married – he was bojo’d in short order. Another diary discussed that since watching a reality show, the diarist now sees polygamist families are really nice people – they should have their commitments legally sanctioned too.

I am so over this false equivalence between same sex marriage and polygamy. Homosexuality is an innate feature. One has as much control over it as their eye color or their height. LGBT folks want only the same rights an any heterosexual married family - no more, no less. Perhaps I may be persuaded by scientific research in the future, but polygamy is not innate.

As for the other slippery slope arguments – ie. marrying children - there are already statutes regulating when minors can marry in most states. The absurd human / animal marriages? Well, last I checked, animals do not have to pay inheritance tax.

Can we stop all these lame slippery slope arguments?

You don't get to call yourself pro-life

mdcalifornia

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Sunday October 28, 2012 · 4:28 PM PDT

2012/10/28 · 16:28

I normally can't stand Thomas Friedman, but his column is worth reading today.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

In my world, you don’t get to call yourself “pro-life” and be against common-sense gun control — like banning public access to the kind of semiautomatic assault rifle, designed for warfare, that was used recently in a Colorado theater. You don’t get to call yourself “pro-life” and want to shut down the Environmental Protection Agency, which ensures clean air and clean water, prevents childhood asthma, preserves biodiversity and combats climate change that could disrupt every life on the planet. You don’t get to call yourself “pro-life” and oppose programs like Head Start that provide basic education, health and nutrition for the most disadvantaged children. You can call yourself a “pro-conception-to-birth, indifferent-to-life conservative.” I will never refer to someone who pickets Planned Parenthood but lobbies against common-sense gun laws as “pro-life.”

I have long been offended by the term "pro-life". It is anything but. We need to call it what it is--pro control, pro death, pro unsafe abortions, anti education, pro child abuse.... The possibilities are endless.

If I don’t know why, then I don’t know how -- politics v. community

mdcalifornia

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Monday July 09, 2012 · 12:18 PM PDT

2012/07/09 · 12:18

I am quoting Alton Brown from one of his cookbooks, but this statement applies to all of my life. If I don’t understand the reason to do something, I will often get it wrong, or I will fail to follow through.

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