10 reasons why absent fathers are bad for society
There is a lot of hoo-hah in today’s society as to the role that fathers play in the lives of their children. It seems that society nowadays believes that single-parenting is an okay situation – and by accepting this situation in totality, they state that fathers are redundant. Why? Because the majority of single-parent households consist of mother and child. This comes at a cost to society. From Fathers for Life, studies have shown that fathers play an important and pivotal role in the upbringing of their children. And the best environment in which fatherhood ‘earns its keep’ – and in which children ultimately flourish – is within an intact, married household.
As Frank Turek notes, there are 10… Continue reading ...
“Gay marriage like incest” or “how to take quotations completely out of context”
In the wake of the repeal of same-sex marriage legislation by the constituents in Maine last month, the Australian Senate was presented with a private members bill to amend the traditional definition of marriage. The Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009, seeking to replace the words “a man and a woman” with “any two persons”, attracted the largest number of submissions from the public – in excess of 28,000, a record number for any Bill.
Australian Senate rejects Marriage Equality Bill
The amendment was rejected by the Senate with a 2/3 majority of the submissions opposing the Bill.
These facts and figures would be amazing by themselves if it were not for the comments made by Family First Senator… Continue reading ...
Twurch Marriages – ur vows on teh intawebs
From the “world has gone crazy” basket, US resident Dana Hanna takes out his mobile phone during a wedding service to update his Twitter followers and Facebook friends of the proceedings. Where’s the twist? Dana was the groom!
As the minister presiding over the wedding said: I now pronounce you husband and wife. It’s official on Facebook … and it’s official in my book.
Thinking back, for those of you have already taken the plunge to tie the knot, was there anything ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ you did for your wedding? I was plain and boring for the most part but, in hindsight, if Twitter was around you may have found my updates something along the lines of:
Whodve thght… Continue reading ...
Record high submissions received by Senate Inquiry indicate 67% oppose the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill
Lodged as a private members Bill by Greens Senator Sarah-Hanson Young, the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009 expressly seeks to alter the legal definition of marriage from “one man and one woman” to “any two people”.
Reported in a recent AAP article, the Bill had received a number of submissions in excess of 26,000 – a record for any Senate inquiry, indicating that the definition of marriage is of a key concern to many in the Australian constituency.
Approximately 67% of the submissions received were opposed to the Bill.
The report implies that the one-sided opposition may in fact be due to two factors: duplicate submissions and a large number of “formula emails sent by Christian groups”… Continue reading ...
Voters in Maine repeal same-sex marriage law
Democracy has its fine points and no finer point can be made when, in every state in America that had legislated same-sex marriage through the courts, the voters have turned out to repeal the law. If anything should be learned by gay marriage advocates it should be that they ought to go through the electoral processes only and not sneak through the backdoors of the legal system to circumvent the essence of democracy by influencing a state’s courts of law.
You can read the New York Time’s article (for what it’s worth) on the Yes on One in Maine vote here: Maine Voters Repeal Law Allowing Gay Marriage
Some interesting quotes from the article, which is very biased towards gay marriage and had nothing glowing to say… Continue reading ...
Grover from Sesame Street discusses marriage
This video is so innocuous and politically correct that it really irks me.
[youtube]UQJvSzkVfRg[/youtube]
In summary, according to Grover and his friend Jesse, marriage is an institution:
- between two people
- in which these two people kiss and hug each other
- in which two people live together and help each other out
- where the two people are friends
Three points that I can think from this clip, in relation to the marriage debate raging across the US and other Western countries, are: 1) gender of the participants is never mentioned (and in my opinion is carefully avoided); 2) apparently marriage is completely adult centred (no mention of children or families, which is the key reason for marriage); 3) you can do all the things… Continue reading ...
The Kiwis publish their 21 reasons why (hetero) marriage matters
While it seems Europe has fallen (for the most part), and the US is in the midst of duking it out, those of us floating around in the Indian and Pacific Oceans are perhaps only beginning – somewhat lethargically – to take up arms. The issue of same-sex marriage (or “marriage neutering”, as The Opine Editorials fondly terms it) in Australia and New Zealand is gearing up for full-swing.
Last month, in Australia, the Senate ceased taking submissions on the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009, a Bill which seeks to redefine marriage as a union between “two persons” (but what if I had two boyfriends? Can’t I marry them both? That’s unfair!). The Senate inquiry is due to have a report by 26 November 2009. I would… Continue reading ...
“It’s not fair: homosexuals can’t marry who they love”
Without a doubt, the most common objection to marriage remaining as the union between one man and one woman, for life, is that current marriage law “unfairly” discriminates against homosexuals who desire – and cannot help but desire – those of the same-sex (second to this is the claim that current marriage laws offer unequal protection / rights to homosexuals – that’s the subject of a different discussion).
Often, the objection is phrased in such terms as: “Heterosexuals are free to marry who they love, but homosexuals can’t – that’s unfair”, or “Banning same-sex marriage discriminates against homosexuals because it prevents them from marrying who they want”.
In almost all variances of this particular objection… Continue reading ...
There’s no inequality for the Greens’s Marriage Equality Amendment Bill to address
On 25 June 2009, Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young lodged the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill in the Australian Senate.
This Bill seeks to repeal the definition outlined in the Marriage Act 1961, redefining the definition of “marriage” as meaning:
the union of two people, regardless of their sex, sexuality or gender identity, voluntarily entered into for life.
The current definition of “marriage” reads, and ought to remain, as meaning:
the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
All Australians concerned about retaining the natural definition of marriage ought to consider writing a brief letter to the Senate, requesting them… Continue reading ...
Mummy? Isn’t your friend Julie really my mummy?
An interesting question from mercatornet.com caught my eye in my RSS Reader the other day: what explanation do parents of surrogate children offer when their children ask the inevitable questions akin to “where-do-I-come-from” or “how-are-babies-made”?
Surrogacy (whether gestational or not), for those not in the know, is that process by which a host mother-to-be is brought onto the scene to carry a child to term on behalf of another couple, whereby they surrender any parental rights to the birthed child to the adoptive parents.
The reasons for entering into such arrangements can be varied – ie. couples may not be able to conceive a child naturally, or for cosmetic reasons the female may not wish to spoil her figure / ‘endure’ child-bearing, and then again there are alternate… Continue reading ...
Carrie Prejean: beauty queen ursurped
No sooner than a month after Donald Trump, owner of the Miss USA Organization, declared that Carrie Prejean would retain her crown as Miss California, Ms Prejean last week had her crown wrested away from her – with the blessing of Mr Trump.
There is no doubt that the majority of the gay and lesbian community would have celebrated the issuance of the pinkslip to Ms Prejean following her comments in support of opposite-sex marriage in last April’s Miss USA beauty pageant. At the pageant, Ms Prejean fielded a question from gay celebrity personality Perez Hilton on what she thought about gay marriage; her response, though far from eloquent, was simple, respectful and to the point: she believes… Continue reading ...
Ethan McNamee – nine year-old gay-marriage advocate
Young Ethan McNamee – just nine years old and a third grade student at Montclaire Elementary School in Denver, Colorado – has done what most third graders wouldn’t even conceive of doing: organising a public rally on the steps of the Colorado state capitol building. His topic was two-fold, and not what you would normally expect of a nine-year old: marriage equality and equal protection for the gay and lesbian community.
As the reports go, young Ethan is the neighbour of a lesbian couple who had first given him the idea of organising such a rally. Having been told by his neighbours that they were not allowed to marry because they were of the same sex, Ethan took it upon himself to speak out for the gay and lesbian… Continue reading ...
Quote: The Importance of Family
James Q. Wilson, a political scientist, in the March 1996 issue of Reader’s Digest, wrote:
The family is not one of several alternative lifestyles. It is not an arena in which rights are negotiated; it is not an old-fashioned barrier to a promiscuous sex life; it is not a set of cost-benefit calculations. It is a commitment for which there is no feasible substitute… There is no way to prepare for this commitment other than to make it… Married life is shaped by the fact that the couple has made a solemn vow before family and friends that this is for keeps…
HT to Salting Society, where I first spotted and subsequently and unashamedly flogged this quote from. I liked it so much, I had to… Continue reading ...
Third grader organises and speaks at pro-gay marriage rally
This is a video taken of Ethan McNamee’s speech, which he delivered at a pro-gay marriage rally that he organised for a school project last Saturday, May 16. Ethan, a nine year old third grader from Montclaire Elementary School in Denver, Colorado, showed amazing poise for his age in front of the crowd that had gathered outside of the steps of the Denver state capitol building.
Below the video, I have also transcribed Ethan’s speech (as best I could. Please let me know if you believe I’ve transcribed anything incorrectly.
I will follow up with some remarks on this event in a separate post.
(This is now published: Ethan McNamee – 9yo gay-marriage advocate.)
While I definitely applaud Ethan’s spirit, courage and confidence to organise such… Continue reading ...
Carrie Prejean: nude pics, hypocrisy, intolerance and … irrelevancy 101
Since Carrie Prejean became an American household name on April 19 during the Miss USA beauty pageant for her “politically incorrect” response to a question on same-sex marriage, there has been no end of malicious attacks on her name – in the media and the blogosphere.
To recap, Ms Prejean answered that she believed marriage was to be between one man and one woman. When she completed her answer, two things occurred: 1) the crowd at the pageant erupted in applause in support of her answer; 2) the blogosphere began lighting up with livid, pro-homosexual rants denouncing her “bigotry” and proceeded to drag out the shovels from their sheds to see what dirt they could dig up.
Now irrespective… Continue reading ...
keep looking »Subscribe to my thoughts!
