Minneapolis Star Tribune Attacks Knights Of Columbus For Pro-family St

[Groo the Wanderer]

hm. more bwah bwah bwah. methinks your keyboard is broken

[4588686]

[url="http://www.skillsworkshop.org/literacy"]http://www.skillsworkshop.org/literacy[/url]

[homeschoolmom]

Big surprise that the guys with the swords who protect the Eucharist are supportive of Church teaching.

[Aloysius]

[quote name='Hasan' timestamp='1350365610' post='2493896']
Yes there is. Unless the state can demonstrate a reason of sufficient strength as to why some people's should be able to enter into specific arrangements for specific benefits and others can't.



That's exactly what it does and that's exactly the point of the right.



By that logic Christians are not disenfranchised in Saudi Arabia. Everyone has an equal right to be a Whabbi Muslim.
[/quote]


umm... gays are completely free to "marry" and live together and do whatever they want here; they can't have a judge officially preside and give a government license, but they can have a minister who agrees with them officiate, or they can have a close friend or family member officiate, or they could have their dog officiate; they are free to have whatever type of ceremony they so choose. they just don't get recognition. they can start a gay bar, a gay church, a gay brothel... well, actually not a gay brothel but we can't have straight brothels either except in Nevada. But their activities are not offered a special license by the government... they're still free to do all the activities, they simply do not get a government paper.

Catholics in Saudi Arabia are forbidden from engaging in particular actions. Gays in the US are NOT forbidden from engaging in any actions.

If in Saudi Arabia one was allowed to build Catholic Churches and allowed to practice all things Catholic freely in public, but only Muslim Mosques had very particular recognitions from the Saudi government, that might be a slightly more similar situation.

really the ONLY thing it possibly affects is certain tax classifications wherein a gay couple would not get the same types of tax statuses offered to straight couples. but equal protection under the law doesn't mean that everyone needs to be capable of qualifying for every tax exemption possible... only a Church qualifies for a religious tax exemption... I can start an association of my own, a group of people and have them meet every week and love each other and be happy, but if my association differs from the definition of a religion then I don't qualify for the tax exemption. and that makes complete sense. currently there is a particularly defined tax status related particularly to those heterosexually married couples who have gotten state marriage licenses, and gay people don't qualify for them. that's it. you don't get to share insurance and tax returns and such... boo hoo, cry me a river, I can't share insurance with anyone either and I have to file my taxes alone too. just because you are in a committed relationship doesn't mean you have a right to those things; the fact that those things are currently being offered to a particular kind of committed relationship shouldn't bother you, really, you don't have the type of relationship that meets those qualifications and if the society offers them to those types of relationships then so be it. Personally, I wouldn't offer them to any kinds of relationships. but I'm at total piece with the fact that there are particular tax statuses that I'll never qualify for, there are particular kinds of scholarships I'll never qualify for, there's a whole load of things from the government that I'll never qualify for. that it's impossible for me to qualify for. does that mean I'm disenfranchised? no, it doesn't. it unequivocally doesn't. so long as my freedom is protected and I am treated equally under the law, the fact that people in particular other circumstances qualify for things I can't qualify for simply shouldn't concern me... except insofar as maybe I'd like the government to be more libertarian (espec. on a federal level) about some of those things so that more people are just not paying taxes to begin with so there's less unevenness of certain exemptions.

regarding any next of kin, hospital visitation rights, and whatever; just draw up a freaking contract. you can make anyone the executor of your estate, executor of a living will, someone with rights to your medical information in an emergency... all of those things can be accomplished. and your lawyer fee will probably cost about as much as a marriage license, maybe less, especially if you just do some research online and draw up your contracts yourself. to be honest, gay people are lucky; I'm stuck following canon law and therefore needing to get the stupid state marriage license if I ever get married.