Maggie Gallagher brought her Big Bus Tour here to Charleston, West Virginia, last year. The weather was nice, West Virginia is a socially-conservative state, and Maggie decided to have a big ant-Gay marriage rally on the steps of the State Capitol Building. About 30 people showed up ... and that was INCLUDING the State Troopers that were presumably hired to keep the evil homosexual mobs at bay (th...more

Maggie Gallagher brought her Big Bus Tour here to Charleston, West Virginia, last year. The weather was nice, West Virginia is a socially-conservative state, and Maggie decided to have a big ant-Gay marriage rally on the steps of the State Capitol Building. About 30 people showed up ... and that was INCLUDING the State Troopers that were presumably hired to keep the evil homosexual mobs at bay (though we ignored the event).

And Maggie thinks that WE'RE desperate?less

NOM thinks Gay rights advocates are desparate? Check THIS out: Antigay activist Cindy Jacobs of Generals International said over the weekend that the recent rash of bird deaths occurred because the law barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military was repealed. She said that when a nation makes a change against God's principles, "nature itself will begin to talk to us — f...more

NOM thinks Gay rights advocates are desparate? Check THIS out:

Antigay activist Cindy Jacobs of Generals International said over the weekend that the recent rash of bird deaths occurred because the law barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military was repealed.

She said that when a nation makes a change against God's principles, "nature itself will begin to talk to us — for instance, violent storms, flooding ... the blackbirds fell to the ground in Beebe, Ark. Well the governor of Arkansas’s name is Beebe. And also, there was something put out of Arkansas called 'don’t ask, don’t tell' by a former governor, this was proposed, Bill Clinton. As so, could there be a connection between this passage [Hosea 4] and now that we’ve had the repeal of the don’t ask, don’t tell, where people now legally in the United States have broken restraints with the Scripture because the Scripture says in Romans 1 that homosexuality is not allowed."

The deaths of large groups of birds and fish have caused alarm around the world. Groups of hundreds or thousands of dead birds have been found in Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, and recently, California.

And anti-Gay groups like NOM think that WE'RE desparate?less

The marriage commissioner cited in this article, Orville Nichols, works for the government, not the church. It is part of his job description to accomodate couples who are legally entitled to be married, regardless of his own religious beliefs. If he cannot fulfiill his job description, he needs to find a new line of work. If he wants to work for a church, FINE, since churches can grant or deny we...more

The marriage commissioner cited in this article, Orville Nichols, works for the government, not the church. It is part of his job description to accomodate couples who are legally entitled to be married, regardless of his own religious beliefs. If he cannot fulfiill his job description, he needs to find a new line of work. If he wants to work for a church, FINE, since churches can grant or deny wedding ceremonies to whomever they want. But whether in Canada or the United States, all the legal benefits of marriage come from GOVERNMENT, not from the church.less

Ultimately it's really not going to matter which states either ban or approve marriage equality for Gay couples, or which states ban or approve "civil unions" or whatever. The Supreme Court of the United States will ultimately have the last word on the subject, since MOST of the legal benefits of marriage come from the FEDERAL government.

SO, SqueakyWheel, maybe it would be helpful if the Republican Party re-branded itself as the "Christian Party" or the "Party of God." Well, maybe the latter might not be a good choice, it sounds too much like Hezbollah.

"Formerly known as the Iowa Christian Alliance, the group intends to send prospective candidates the message that Iowan Christians are an important constituency." One must assume that non-Christians are persona non grata.

"They can be written to ensure that any two consenting adults sharing the same household and each others primary caregiver can have the same legal rights, benefits, and protections as a heterosexual married couple." DEAR BELIEVER: I gather the only thing you're really concerned about is the word, "MARRIAGE." Fine enough. If what you're suggesting confers legal equality at ALL levels of gov...more

"They can be written to ensure that any two consenting adults sharing the same household and each others primary caregiver can have the same legal rights, benefits, and protections as a heterosexual married couple."

DEAR BELIEVER:

I gather the only thing you're really concerned about is the word, "MARRIAGE." Fine enough. If what you're suggesting confers legal equality at ALL levels of government, how could I object?

Unfortunately, Proposition 8 fell far short of that lofty goal.less

Let ProtectMarriage.com try to defend Proposition 8. Let the National Organization for Marriage try to defend it. Let the Pope himself fly to the United States to appear in court to defend it. It's still indefensible. WHY? Because Proposition 8 conflicts with the Constitution of the United States! While it's true that the Constitution doesn't define "marriage," the federal government has comp...more

Let ProtectMarriage.com try to defend Proposition 8. Let the National Organization for Marriage try to defend it. Let the Pope himself fly to the United States to appear in court to defend it. It's still indefensible.

WHY? Because Proposition 8 conflicts with the Constitution of the United States! While it's true that the Constitution doesn't define "marriage," the federal government has complicated the issue by taking a vested interest in married couples for the purposes of tax law and Social Security (among the 1,138 legal benefits, protections, and responsibilities that are automatically bestowed on couples once they marry). Therefore this is not an issue that can be left up to the states to decide individually, since it wouldn't do for a Gay couple that is legally married in Iowa, for instance, to become automatically UN-married once they decide to move somewhere else.

Religious beliefs are irrelevant to this debate, because (1) the United States is not theocracy, and (2) churches will continue to be free to conduct or deny ceremonies to whomever they want. Procreation and parenting are irrelevant, since (1) couples do not have to marry to have children, and (2) the ability or even desire to have children is not a prerequisite for getting a marriage license; there's also the fact that many Gay couples ARE INDEED raising children together.

This is simply a matter of equal treatment under the law, and equal treatment at all levels of government is something that Proposition 8 does not provide. And constitutionality always trumps popularity.less

I don't think one's own personal faith is a "scam," but organized religion all to often IS. Consider all the televangelists who have used their charms to become obscenely wealthy.

Welcome to the year 2011 CE (Common Era). I was born in 1959 CE. Columbus came to North America in 1492 CE. Pythagoras lived from 570-495 BCE. The way we date things may be based on Jesus' birth (estimated at 4 BCE, last I heard), but it's really just a way of staying on the same page.

Everyone in the military knows that Gay soldiers have always been there. Everyone in the military knows that Gay and Straight soldiers have always showered together and bunked together. None of that was ever going to change whether "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was kept or repealed. I don't know why people are getting all bent out of shape about it now. For what it's worth, I really don't care if any...more

Everyone in the military knows that Gay soldiers have always been there. Everyone in the military knows that Gay and Straight soldiers have always showered together and bunked together. None of that was ever going to change whether "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was kept or repealed. I don't know why people are getting all bent out of shape about it now.

For what it's worth, I really don't care if any soldier, Gay OR Straight, is disciplined or booted out of the military because of inappropriate conduct when on-duty. That's not what's at issue here. A qualified soldier should not be at risk for losing his career simply because of who he's dating on his own time.

Hold all soldiers to the same standards of professional behavior, regardless of their sexual orientation, and the military will be able to do its job just fine. We don't need DADT to accomplish that goal.less

"Homosexuals were once considered sex offenders." Yeah, and people used to think that schizophrenics were possessed by demons, and that Earth was created just 6,000 years ago, and that tomatoes were poisonous.

When a judge declares DOMA unconstitutional, will that be proof enough for you, Hyperion? I know you'll just scream and cry about how it's just another example of "judicial activism." Nevertheless, DOMA is clearly unconstitutional because it establishes different legal standards for Gay and Straight couples, clearly in violation of both the 14th Amendment and the "Full Faith & Credit" clause. That...more

When a judge declares DOMA unconstitutional, will that be proof enough for you, Hyperion? I know you'll just scream and cry about how it's just another example of "judicial activism." Nevertheless, DOMA is clearly unconstitutional because it establishes different legal standards for Gay and Straight couples, clearly in violation of both the 14th Amendment and the "Full Faith & Credit" clause. That's all the proof I or anyone else needs. Sorry about your luck.less

I'll admit, it's unlikely that Congress won't be interested in repealing DOMA anytime soon, even though DOMA is clearly unconstitutional. It's more likely that DOMA will end up being overturned in court. Eventually the Supreme Court is going to have to address the issue, though I'm sure they'd prefer not to. Right now if a Gay couple in Virginia flies up to Iowa to be legally married, they are ...more

I'll admit, it's unlikely that Congress won't be interested in repealing DOMA anytime soon, even though DOMA is clearly unconstitutional. It's more likely that DOMA will end up being overturned in court. Eventually the Supreme Court is going to have to address the issue, though I'm sure they'd prefer not to.

Right now if a Gay couple in Virginia flies up to Iowa to be legally married, they are still NOT married when they return home to Virginia. However, thanks to the "Full Faith & Credit" clause of the Constitution, any Straight couple can fly off to Las Vega for a drunken weekend, get married by an Elvis impersonator, and that marriage is automatically honored in all 50 states. This is one reason why DOMA is unconstitutional.less

So the bone fragments are supposed to be 400,000 years old, and Christians are jumping for joy because they were found in a cave in Israel. Good enough. But wait! How could they be 400,000 years ago, when all of Creation took place only about 6,000 years ago (according to Archbishop James Ussher)? Well, like Hyperion says, we start with the Bible, and if the scientific method can't confirm what's ...more

So the bone fragments are supposed to be 400,000 years old, and Christians are jumping for joy because they were found in a cave in Israel. Good enough. But wait! How could they be 400,000 years ago, when all of Creation took place only about 6,000 years ago (according to Archbishop James Ussher)? Well, like Hyperion says, we start with the Bible, and if the scientific method can't confirm what's in the Bible (despite what we know about math and physics and cosmology), we can just assume it's part of an elaborate Satanic deception.

Didn't you know? According to the Discovery Institute, the speed of light IS ACTUALLY SLOWING DOWN!!!less

It IS fortunate that there are many Christians that have learned to make better value judgments about their Gay friends, family members, and co-workers, rather than painting all of us with the same broad brush. For example: I'm reminded of a Republican political candidate here in West Virginia who would purchase hour-long blocks of radio time to host his own talk show as part of his campaign ...more

It IS fortunate that there are many Christians that have learned to make better value judgments about their Gay friends, family members, and co-workers, rather than painting all of us with the same broad brush.

For example: I'm reminded of a Republican political candidate here in West Virginia who would purchase hour-long blocks of radio time to host his own talk show as part of his campaign strategy. I called his "show" and told him that, while I found myself becoming increasing conservative as I grew older, I was still dismayed by his disdain for Gay Americans. I said to him, "It's almost as though you're incapable of making a moral and ethical distinction between a monogamous Gay couple and someone who is promiscuous." His response? "One is bad and the other is worse." Case closed.

Why is it that it's perfectly acceptable, even admirable, for Straight (i.e. heterosexual) couples to date, get engaged, get married, and build lives together in the context of monogamy and commitment, and that this is a GOOD thing ... but for Gay couples to do exactly the same is somehow a BAD thing? To me this seems like a very poor value judgment. And I think Dan Kimball is coming to grips with the fact that its exactly THIS inability to make better value judgments that is causing more harm than good.less

Just what I thought! Imagine your poor puppydog, starving to death, waiting for you to come home and feed him ... and you're up in Heaven livin' it up!

Hyper, it's precisely BECAUSE you believe only humans have souls that you need to go to http://eternal-earthbound-pets.com, and make some arrangements for YOUR pets, because they won't be raptured up to Heaven WITH you! Do you have any dogs or cats? Don't you care about what happens to them when the Rapture occurs? I'd hate to think you're THAT cold-hearted!

Based on cutting-edge research by the Discovery Institute, no doubt.

"God will return within a timeframe of 25-50 years." .... meaning, of course, that you won't be around to explain why it DIDN'T happen. As Church Lady would say, "How CONVENIENT!"