I'm continually amazed by the spin on politics, it happens on both sides - sure. What drives me crazy though, is the republicans refuse to really give their stance on things. Why? Probably because coming out and saying "homosexual sex is gross to me" makes them sound like bigots. I guess the spin is there because being honest about how they feel makes them feel like jerks.
FAMILY
Let's Be Honest: You want the nuclear family because that's what you think the bible endorses.
GAY MARRIAGE
Gay marriage is such a ridiculous issue, it's 2012, we shouldn't be discriminating against people. We were at an identical place socially some 40 years ago with interracial marriage. People weren't comfortable with black people having the same rights as them (hmmm....sounds familiar), and they sure didn't want to allow interracial marriage. Here were are again at the same human-rights challenge: letting grown adults decide what is best for themselves.
Let's Be Honest:
You Say: "Marriage is between a man and a woman. It has been since the dawn of time."
What You Mean: "Gay sex is gross to me, so I don't like gay people. My bible says they shouldn't be together."
Really? You know the bible talks about slavery as being a holy/sanctified thing? If it could be wrong about that (AND IT IS), it can be wrong about homosexuality too. Marriage was originally brought about as a goods trade/financial investment: I trade my sheep to you, I gain a wife.
You Say: "Gays are forcing their beliefs down our throat by asking to have marriage rights."
What You Mean: "Being gay is a sin and I don't like it."
Really? Gay people aren't asking for your god to marry them, or for the bible to be re-written. They want LEGAL rights through the government. SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, might I remind you.
You Say: "Gay marriage is just a cultural thing, soon it will be people wanting to marry animals or pedophiles marrying children."
What You Mean: Erm... I think you covered it there.
Really? You are comparing people marrying animals and children, both of whom cannot speak for themselves or make their own competent decisions, to TWO GROWN ADULTS capable of full CONSENT, and who want a long-term relationship? Get real.
(*author's note: this is from a few actual conversations I've had on the topic with conservative people*)
You Say: "What about polygamy? That's surely next...."
What You Mean: "I'm just trying to find anything I can that could possibly happen to try to dissuade you."
Really? Gay people aren't asking for polygamy, in fact all of my gay friends are actually against it. Might I remind you, polygamy is completely a heterosexual concept, and something endorsed in your bible. P.S. Don't want to be in a gay marriage or polygamist relationship? Fine. Don't be.
Besides, not allowing gay people to marry changes nothing. You won't force gay people into being straight, or not having a relationship, the gay population will still be here in the same numbers, waiting for the day you treat them with dignity and respect. So really all you are doing is discriminating against people.
GUNS
This whole issue is silly to me, because as a democrat I don't want to take away guns or gun rights. That's right: I don't think banning guns from civilian use is a good idea.
Let's Be Honest: You like to think we want to eliminate private citizen gun ownership, huh? It plays into your "protecting your home, I'm a badass" fantasy.
Reality: The constitution guarantees the right to bare arms and a "well-training militia." To me, I think this should mean you should have to get certified to own a gun (or show equiviliant knowledge) - hence "well-trained." You have to in order to drive a car, or boat, so it makes sense to do so for a gun. Is this "punishing the responsible"? I don't think so, it is common-sense. Even if "the bad guy will get the gun regardless," adding this requirement could do some good for all of those silly gun accidents that happen.
Honestly though? That's it, some certification is the most I'd suggest. We can't seem to figure out a good way to stop gun violence, and I don't think there is a solution to gun violence. People use guns to do bad shit. End of story. But if we could take the dumbass Dad who leaves a loaded, unlocked pistol in his car with his 3 year old and make him get civilian certification which would hopefully remind him NOT to do this, maybe we'd have less accidents. So sit down, oil your gun, and quit trying to make democrats out to be your gun-thieving assassins in your tough-guy fantasy.
WELFARE
You Say: "If you can afford tattoos, beer, and cigarettes, you shouldn't be on welfare."
What You Really Mean: "I'm just telling myself that a ton of people game the system, it makes it easier to be angry at poor people who ask for help."
Really? Statistics for fraud vary a lot, but recent statistics suggest it is LESS THAN 2% of recipients (decent quick article on it here). Did you also know welfare was a Republican-introduced system? President Roosevelt signed the original welfare bill in 1935.
As a child of a parent who relied on welfare for a short time, I can tell you that it isn't some amazingly wonderful way to get a free hand-out. You have to jump through so many hoops, spend hours a month is a shitty government office with screaming kids, sick and needy people, and fill out a billion forms. It isn't the luxury cake walk that you assure yourself it to be. A good parent swallows their pride and can ask for help, after all the bible thumping the majority of republicans seem to do, you'd think they'd have basic compassion for single mothers with a child (which is the biggest portion of recipients according to the stats) they are also using welfare for less than two years at a time.
UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE
EVERY person deserve healthcare without having to worry about how to afford it, or selling their house and maxing out the 401k in order to afford chemo treatment to live. Healthcare is a Basic. Human. Right. It doesn't make sense to have a for-profit system.
"Obamacare" is probably not the BEST idea, but we have to start somewhere and our current system is not working.
You Say: "The government shouldn't tell me I have to buy healthcare, living without healthcare is my personal decision."
Reality: Is it really? Not really, because guess WHO pays for your unexpected and uninsured accidents/doctor appointments? Me, the tax payer. My mother had TWO children, appendix removal, a toxic-food-poisoning week-long hospital stay, AND almost bled to death, ALL WHILE UNINSURED. Do you think she worked to pay off the debt? Nope. And those "assistance" programs didn't do much. So, all in all and last I knew she owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that we ended up paying for anyhow, because hospitals can't turn away people.
That shouldn't be allowed, and she shouldn't have to pay thousands of dollars to stay alive. That's a broken system. By embracing the philosophy of "I don't need to have insurance" we are costing ourselves more money in the long run. You have to pay for car insurance, you shouldn't be able to gamble on your health , nor should you have to pay loads to stay alive.
You Say: "Should I have to pay for an abortion or birth control if I don't agree with it?"
Reality: Yes, you should. You can't force your religious beliefs on people. Imagine you are dying on a hospital bed, and the only available doctor doesn't believe in blood transfusions- it's against his personal religious beliefs. Oh, you'd just get another doctor? You're missing the point if you think that. That doctor can't exercise his beliefs on you, it isn't right.
If my taxes go to pay for your religious church services/out reach missions and programs, things that I don't agree with and I think harm people, then you should have to allow people to make their own decisions, rather than forcing their hand. Don't want to have an abortion or use birth control? Then don't, but respect another's views and rights.
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