Thanks, Christoper. I've been trying to find some historical info on marriage for a few weeks now, as I've been wanting more and more to refute this "traditional marriage" bullshit in a more informed way. A friend of mine read a book a few years back that went into this in more detail, but I can't remember the name right now. My best guess is this: http://www.amazon.com/Public-Vows-Histor….
Anyway, it sucks that no matter how informed I am(or anyone who supports marriage or queer equality is), that some folks will just continue the "traditional marriage" line. Aargh.
This is the best thing the Daily's done to raise its profile in many years. They must be shitting red bricks of delight to get such a public slogflogging!
Gosh, Chris! You are as big a bully as Dan! Shameshameshameshame! Get ready to be sued! My common sense tells me that you need to leave that poor boy alone, big bullypants!
Elswinger, no offense, but I think you're an embarrassment to slogging. The Daily kicks ass. I'm at a job right now because of its Help Wanted section.
"Go dawgs." is incredibly condescending in and of itself, Frizzelle. As though we can all be lumped together with this guy. As though you are not a Dawg yourself.
OH RIGHT, you never finished your degree at the University of Washington.
The Daily has lost all journalistic integrity with this coming year, with an all new green staff. That leans REPUBLICAN. IN SEATTLE. AT UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON!. They are worse than fluff and irrelevant. They are an insult to intelligence. For shame.
I am an '08 undergrad. I remember when The Daily was at least kind of relevant.
Pretty much all of us here at the UW are laughing at his "editorial" and how clueless he is.
It's as if the lunatics who couldn't write their way out of a paper bag all escaped and started running the zoo - so far as any of the readers of the Daily can tell ...
Look, John Fay’s op-ed piece may seem simplistic and borderline idiotic to an informed and rational person, but we have to realize and accept that this is how most Americans think.
There’s a reason that all of the op-eds, books and essays by today’s American conservatives sound like they were written by mental patients or 12 year-olds in fundamentalist Sunday School. These people read the Bible and think it makes sense, for fuck’s sake.
Unfortunately, our society is characterized by a near total lack of empathy, social intelligence and basic reasoning skills. If we’re going to make any progress with people like John Fay, we have to dumb-down our message to a level that they understand. We can’t make grand arguments about constitutional rights or historical legacies with people who have no comprehension of these concepts. If anything, they’re impervious to logic and intellectual persuasion since much of their worldview is shaped by religion-based sexual hysteria.
My best guess is that an approach based on individuality, testimonials and personal freedom may work, but this is obviously going to be a very long process.
Star Tribune's primary Sunday opinion piece did an excellent job comparing the history of marriage with the current same-sex marriage debate: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/comme…
Glad to see SOMEONE is pointing out the lack of religion in the origin of marriage... which seems like it would be obvious, seeing as marriage crosses most all religious, economic, and geographic borders.
Come now, Christopher. Like bigots ever let facts get in the way of their emotional temper tantrums. They want to pick on someone. It's no longer okay to pick on someone cause of skin color, gays are all they have left.
@13 -- Semantically, "Go dawgs" isn't condescending in and of itself. It's a cheer. But you're right, my intention wasn't entirely cheerful. UW was crawling with anti-gay evangelical righteousness when I went to school there. The trend seems to endure.
@10. The number listed is for The Daily, not for Fay. The only way to get them to think about their content is to tell them what you think. Otherwise you're just sitting and bitching, a popular but not very productive pasttime.
Daniel, The Help Wanted section and the ads are the only thing worth reading in The Daily. Also, maybe, the sports section and the stuff they rip off from the A.P.
But ever since the Daily used its April Fools issue to make fun of serial rape at The Evergreen State College (my alma mater) I have had zero respect for them.
Congratulations on finding a job, but that ad could have, and probably was posted, in the Stranger.
Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife.
Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
And we know all about what God thinks of adultery:
You shall not commit adultery.
If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
Jesus on women:
I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes.
A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
But, for some reason, John Fay only likes one bible passage, even if he ignores the half that says God created gays.
God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another... Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
I suppose the part that bothers me most is the statement "overturning a tradition that has been in place for 2,000 years."
A lot of people lived before that and were married. (Heck, even Saint Peter was married before he was a Christian.)
We sometimes forget that 1st century Palestine was about as important as Alabama in the Roman world. Total backwater on the way to Persia and Egypt (though they had some nice beaches)
Also, @ 24, that wasn't Jesus who said that, it was Paul (and prolly not Paul, but someone who wrote in his name)
Next time someone tells you that their religion (typically Christianity) predates state-sanctioned marriage, you might want to remind them that Christianity is a relatively *new* religion...or don't they know what BC and AD traditionally stand for?
And, lest they get a bit historically confused, 2000 years ago was nearing the height of the Roman Empire, which had their own ideas about marriage (relatively progressive, I might add). Before them, the Greeks, who also married each other. Gosh darn it if you want to get technical, even Abraham had a wife (Sarah? Anyone?) and since he was the *founder* of Judaism (and thereby Christianity, and let's not forget Ishmael and Islam) the practice of taking a spouse obviously pre-dates all of them as well!
So, I guess we should go back to the marriage practices of Ur of Chaldea...think that would be "traditional" enough for the bigots?
@16 My thoughts exactly. Rational arguments are pointless. They will only repeat the same mantra over and over "the bible says, the bible says, the bible says, ad nauseum"
There must be some other way to convince them.
Selective "Christian" memory and twisting historical facts to fit some self righteous view. Don't look to people like this for reason. It is completely absent. They just don't believe in secular government and they had better be stopped or they will destroy freedom the way their religion always has. The Founders saw this and wrote seperation of church and state into The Constitution. That much cannot be denied.
From Fay's story: "Now, I realize the gay marriage issue surrounding the California voters’ decision on Proposition 8 is extremely emotional for a lot of people, and I respect their difference of opinion, but let us try and consider the vote from a rational basis."
Fuck you, kid. The only reason you respect anyone's difference of opinion is because you're on the side that's currently "winning." When the tides turn, you'll become just as vile and disgusting as the people who passed Prop 8, you condescending little prick.
The fact that he says Colbert is his hero and then goes on to spew a bunch of right wing bullshit shows just how clueless this little fucker is.
A:Busy getting ready for another stellar print edition.
Anyway, it sucks that no matter how informed I am(or anyone who supports marriage or queer equality is), that some folks will just continue the "traditional marriage" line. Aargh.
condescending and uniformed commentary is to be exlusively The Strangers domain
Ha.
Poor College Republicans.
OH RIGHT, you never finished your degree at the University of Washington.
But your points are otherwise well made.
I am an '08 undergrad. I remember when The Daily was at least kind of relevant.
It's as if the lunatics who couldn't write their way out of a paper bag all escaped and started running the zoo - so far as any of the readers of the Daily can tell ...
There’s a reason that all of the op-eds, books and essays by today’s American conservatives sound like they were written by mental patients or 12 year-olds in fundamentalist Sunday School. These people read the Bible and think it makes sense, for fuck’s sake.
Unfortunately, our society is characterized by a near total lack of empathy, social intelligence and basic reasoning skills. If we’re going to make any progress with people like John Fay, we have to dumb-down our message to a level that they understand. We can’t make grand arguments about constitutional rights or historical legacies with people who have no comprehension of these concepts. If anything, they’re impervious to logic and intellectual persuasion since much of their worldview is shaped by religion-based sexual hysteria.
My best guess is that an approach based on individuality, testimonials and personal freedom may work, but this is obviously going to be a very long process.
But ever since the Daily used its April Fools issue to make fun of serial rape at The Evergreen State College (my alma mater) I have had zero respect for them.
Congratulations on finding a job, but that ad could have, and probably was posted, in the Stranger.
And we know all about what God thinks of adultery:
Jesus on women:
But, for some reason, John Fay only likes one bible passage, even if he ignores the half that says God created gays.
http://dailyuw.com/2008/11/25/propositio…
A lot of people lived before that and were married. (Heck, even Saint Peter was married before he was a Christian.)
We sometimes forget that 1st century Palestine was about as important as Alabama in the Roman world. Total backwater on the way to Persia and Egypt (though they had some nice beaches)
Also, @ 24, that wasn't Jesus who said that, it was Paul (and prolly not Paul, but someone who wrote in his name)
And, lest they get a bit historically confused, 2000 years ago was nearing the height of the Roman Empire, which had their own ideas about marriage (relatively progressive, I might add). Before them, the Greeks, who also married each other. Gosh darn it if you want to get technical, even Abraham had a wife (Sarah? Anyone?) and since he was the *founder* of Judaism (and thereby Christianity, and let's not forget Ishmael and Islam) the practice of taking a spouse obviously pre-dates all of them as well!
So, I guess we should go back to the marriage practices of Ur of Chaldea...think that would be "traditional" enough for the bigots?
There must be some other way to convince them.
GO COUGS!!!
Senior, History
johnfay@u.washington.edu
Fuck you, kid. The only reason you respect anyone's difference of opinion is because you're on the side that's currently "winning." When the tides turn, you'll become just as vile and disgusting as the people who passed Prop 8, you condescending little prick.
The fact that he says Colbert is his hero and then goes on to spew a bunch of right wing bullshit shows just how clueless this little fucker is.
Now..where'd I leave that monkey...