is there anyone else who is pro-life AND pro-gay rights, or is it just me?

[Sean]

Getting back on topic - sort of - Massachusetts is spearheading a new effort to take down the ominously named "Defense of Marriage Act". The state has filed a lawsuit against the federal government charging that "In enacting DOMA, Congress overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people".

While I'm ashamed of my current state of residence, California, for prop 8, I can at least be proud of the state I was born and raised in, Massachusetts! Rock on witcho' bad self!

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

More words of wisdom: To Be Continued.

From the Land of Oz...

[Sarcasmo]

Well, this was fun to read on a Sunday morning. I wish my fingers worked. I typed that last sentence about 6 times...

As far as abortion goes. I say this: develop a well thought out, reasonable explanation for what you believe, and then shut your fucking mouth until you're thrown in that position. Try clinging to the "every life is sacred" creed when you're an unemployed pothead living in your parents' basement, with no education, no savings, and no health insurance. When it comes down to it, what you believe is what you believe, and that's fine. What's not fine is when you run around and try to cram that belief down someone else's throat, especially when you've got no real world experience to base your opinion on. As far as I'm concerned, cacophony would probably write a better abortion law than 99.99% of the legislators in the country, and I would be infinitely satisfied with whatever she came up with. Abortion opinions should be reactive, not proactive. If someone asks you what your opinion on abortion is, feel free to tell them. Otherwise, just keep it to yourself.

And I love how all the straight religious folks, many of whom have fucked up, sham marriages in the first place, suddenly get all bent out of shape about the sanctity of marriage when it's the gays that want to get married. Head's up, all you'se religious types: If your church is against gay marriage, THEY WONT MARRY GAYS!! You're safe. You don't have to worry about Steve and Trenton sitting next to you in church, wondering, as are everyone else in attendance, why your wife has bruises on her arms, and why your children wont look you in the eye. They'll do what reasonable, sensible people do; skip on the pomp and formality, and get married in a courthouse, in a totally non-religious ceremony. If marriage were such a sacrosanct and holy institution, Britney and K-Fed never would have happened. So...before we go around denying basic civil liberties to people simply because they are into their own gender, maybe, just maybe, we could do something about the fact that we, apparently by the example I stated in the previous sentence, allow complete and total morons to get hitched and squirt little fuckup babies all throughout this great nation.

bryantm3, bravo on creating a thread that at least brought back a smidge, or a skosh if you will, of what this forum used to be. You took yer lumps like a man, and when you get into it with cacophony, it's hard not to take lumps.

As an aside, and I know that this portion of our tale should go into the noise section, lots has been going on with me recently. I moved back to Wisconsin, got a job, and just when I thought things were settling down a bit, the fiance and I decided, "Why the fuck don't we just get this whole marriage thing knocked out?" So we decided to do that. Then we decided to combine our newly married status, as well as my status as a veteran, into the fiscal Voltron known as The VA Home Loan. THEN my beautiful bride decided that she'd let one of those "aggregations of non-differentiated cells" implant itself within her uterus, thereby transforming her into some kind of vicious, rabid, land shark.

[IsiliRunite]

can we talk about abortion again?

marriage isn't the government's job. sorry. in fact, the benefits I won't receive because I don't get married at some point in my life constitute as discrimination.

[cacophony]

Originally Posted by Sarcasmo

bryantm3, bravo on creating a thread that at least brought back a smidge, or a skosh if you will, of what this forum used to be. You took yer lumps like a man, and when you get into it with cacophony, it's hard not to take lumps.

Originally Posted by Sarcasmo

As an aside, and I know that this portion of our tale should go into the noise section, lots has been going on with me recently. I moved back to Wisconsin, got a job, and just when I thought things were settling down a bit, the fiance and I decided, "Why the fuck don't we just get this whole marriage thing knocked out?" So we decided to do that. Then we decided to combine our newly married status, as well as my status as a veteran, into the fiscal Voltron known as The VA Home Loan. THEN my beautiful bride decided that she'd let one of those "aggregations of non-differentiated cells" implant itself within her uterus, thereby transforming her into some kind of vicious, rabid, land shark.

excellent news all around! i'm glad you shared this here instead of noise because i always forget that forum section exists and i never would have seen it. congrats to you and your blushing bride and your cellwad!

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

(((())))

[Sean]

Originally Posted by IsiliRunite

can we talk about abortion again?

marriage isn't the government's job. sorry. in fact, the benefits I won't receive because I don't get married at some point in my life constitute as discrimination.

I think my main question to you would be which benefits afforded to married couples do you feel you're missing out on? The bulk of the benefits are specific to the unique needs of a married couple that single folks don't typically have. Here's a partial list of examples I just came across:

* joint parenting;
* joint adoption;
* joint foster care, custody, and visitation (including non-biological parents);
* status as next-of-kin for hospital visits and medical decisions where one partner is too ill to be competent;
* joint insurance policies for home, auto and health;
* dissolution and divorce protections such as community property and child support;
* immigration and residency for partners from other countries;
* inheritance automatically in the absence of a will;
* joint leases with automatic renewal rights in the event one partner dies or leaves the house or apartment;
* inheritance of jointly-owned real and personal property through the right of survivorship (which avoids the time and expense and taxes in probate);
* benefits such as annuities, pension plans, Social Security, and Medicare;
* spousal exemptions to property tax increases upon the death of one partner who is a co-owner of the home;
* veterans' discounts on medical care, education, and home loans; joint filing of tax returns;
* joint filing of customs claims when traveling;
* wrongful death benefits for a surviving partner and children;
* bereavement or sick leave to care for a partner or child;
* decision-making power with respect to whether a deceased partner will be cremated or not and where to bury him or her;
* crime victims' recovery benefits;
* loss of consortium tort benefits;
* domestic violence protection orders;
* judicial protections and evidentiary immunity;

So I'm just wondering if you could be more specific in your stance that single people not getting benefits like the ones listed above amounts to discrimination.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Sarcasmo

Well, this was fun to read on a Sunday morning. I wish my fingers worked. I typed that last sentence about 6 times...

As far as abortion goes. I say this: develop a well thought out, reasonable explanation for what you believe, and then shut your fucking mouth until you're thrown in that position. Try clinging to the "every life is sacred" creed when you're an unemployed pothead living in your parents' basement, with no education, no savings, and no health insurance. When it comes down to it, what you believe is what you believe, and that's fine. What's not fine is when you run around and try to cram that belief down someone else's throat, especially when you've got no real world experience to base your opinion on. As far as I'm concerned, cacophony would probably write a better abortion law than 99.99% of the legislators in the country, and I would be infinitely satisfied with whatever she came up with. Abortion opinions should be reactive, not proactive. If someone asks you what your opinion on abortion is, feel free to tell them. Otherwise, just keep it to yourself.

And I love how all the straight religious folks, many of whom have fucked up, sham marriages in the first place, suddenly get all bent out of shape about the sanctity of marriage when it's the gays that want to get married. Head's up, all you'se religious types: If your church is against gay marriage, THEY WONT MARRY GAYS!! You're safe. You don't have to worry about Steve and Trenton sitting next to you in church, wondering, as are everyone else in attendance, why your wife has bruises on her arms, and why your children wont look you in the eye. They'll do what reasonable, sensible people do; skip on the pomp and formality, and get married in a courthouse, in a totally non-religious ceremony. If marriage were such a sacrosanct and holy institution, Britney and K-Fed never would have happened. So...before we go around denying basic civil liberties to people simply because they are into their own gender, maybe, just maybe, we could do something about the fact that we, apparently by the example I stated in the previous sentence, allow complete and total morons to get hitched and squirt little fuckup babies all throughout this great nation.

bryantm3, bravo on creating a thread that at least brought back a smidge, or a skosh if you will, of what this forum used to be. You took yer lumps like a man, and when you get into it with cacophony, it's hard not to take lumps.

As an aside, and I know that this portion of our tale should go into the noise section, lots has been going on with me recently. I moved back to Wisconsin, got a job, and just when I thought things were settling down a bit, the fiance and I decided, "Why the fuck don't we just get this whole marriage thing knocked out?" So we decided to do that. Then we decided to combine our newly married status, as well as my status as a veteran, into the fiscal Voltron known as The VA Home Loan. THEN my beautiful bride decided that she'd let one of those "aggregations of non-differentiated cells" implant itself within her uterus, thereby transforming her into some kind of vicious, rabid, land shark.

Hey, congratulations! Good to know that smart people are still breeding so that we can avoid our Idiocracy future....

And of course, well said on the other stuff.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by cacophony

just be zen about it and let it flow where it goes. if you started a conversation at a party and it ended up degenerating into a rant, you wouldn't be able to lock people's mouths.

unless this was an episode of the twilight zone.

and i hope it's not.

do you remember the twilight zone movie where the little boy shut his sister's mouth permanently with his mind? eek! that gave me nightmares.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

Originally Posted by Sarcasmo

And I love how all the straight religious folks, many of whom have fucked up, sham marriages in the first place, suddenly get all bent out of shape about the sanctity of marriage when it's the gays that want to get married. Head's up, all you'se religious types: If your church is against gay marriage, THEY WONT MARRY GAYS!! You're safe. You don't have to worry about Steve and Trenton sitting next to you in church, wondering, as are everyone else in attendance, why your wife has bruises on her arms, and why your children wont look you in the eye.

Thank you for such a rational non-biased argument