Reaction to an Answer

Now that I am through with finals for the semester, I would like to take the time to respond to an article and video I read about a week ago and subsequently decided to make the focus of my first blog post attempt.

My main focus of this post is a question a little more than half-way through the video, beginning at about 3:00, when Beck asks Bachmann where she stands on the issue of gay marriage. Her response, that she opposes it, comes as a surprise to absolutely no one at all.

"Marriage should be between one man and one woman... because it's foundational. In the scriptures of Christian and Judeo and if you go through the major religions of the world and really through 5,000 years of recorded human history you can't find a tribe or a nation or a people group where marriage has been anything other than between men and women."

She also does not support civil unions because "they are the equivalency of marriage".

Though I am no historian, I feel her statement is probably accurate. But times change. And customs change with them. What may have once been a widespread and common practice in history may no longer be an acceptable custom today.

For example, if we continue to look at Judeo-Christian scripture and go through the customs and practices of the many tribes, nations, and people groups of the 5,000 years of recorded history we will see that most, if not all of them, practiced slavery.

In fact, the Bible mentions slavery numerous times in both the Old and New Testament. Furthermore, there are countless documents discussing the enslavement practices forced upon criminals, debtors, and people defeated in war by almost every major empire in human history. Try and name a nation that didn't enslave!

And yet, we no longer have slaves in the U.S. Nor are there slaves in England; or Russia; or China. In fact, none of the world's current first-world societies (one might call them the modern day empires) practice slavery.

So why do people insist on holding on to a union practice that is as antiquated as the practice of slavery? The times have changed! So let us now stand-up in support of the LGBT Community and have the customs change with them.

Please feel free to post any questions, comments, or concerns you might have below. I would love to hear them.

I am a small man with big thoughts.

However, there are a couple problems with these thoughts.

1. I consider myself a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none. Many times, when I debate with my friends, the topic at hand moves into territory that I do not know enough about to comfortably continue participating. So I sit there and smile and occasionally play Devil's advocate to someone's point until the conversation eventually meanders back into a depth I can swim in without drowning. And this leads us to problem number two.

2. Whenever I CAN participate in the current discussion, I am often passed over by my fellow debaters, who are passionately at one another's throats with points and counter-points. Sentences from one person are being steamrolled before they are finished to make way for the next speaker who has already begun refuting the half-complete position. As someone who does not have the necessary ferocity to communicate in such a manner, it makes it quite difficult to work my views into the conversation.

Thus, I recently began trying to come up with ways to have my voice heard and someone brilliantly suggested starting a blog! (Somebody else suggested I begin a youtube channel. We'll see what happens...)

My hope for this blog is to discuss some modern-day issues that I have varying opinions on and promote some lively discussion from all angles of a topic. While I do have strong views regarding various areas, I am always open, and often quite curious, to hear what someone with an opposing opinion has to say.

And a personal bonus is that a blog will naturally solve the two previously discussed problems! I get to choose the topic being discussed and my voice will always be heard! AND, if the discussion swerves into unknown territory, I can take the time to do some research before I come up with a reply.

Well, seeing as my biggest writing issue is the inability to compose a good conclusion, I'm just going to wrap this up by saying thanks for reading, and I hope to have my first real blog post up soon!