"George M. Middius" wrote in message
...


Art, you've been struggling and straining to put forth your, uh, views
on (against) gay marriage. In the process, you've bent over backward
to protest that you're not a bigot, that all you want is separate but
equal. You've also said the "institution" of marriage should be viewed
differently from other flashpoints of civil rights, that it's not an
issue of religion, that you have gay friends, and so forth.

You've also made several inflammatory comments, such as your infamous
"you're not equal to me" line, and your clumsily self-mocking
"Straight people are normal, and heterosexuals are abnormal." And you
foolishly expanded on the "abnormal" theme, using the word several
more times in the process. What's truly astonishing to those of us who
view you as a reasonable person is your repeated use of "abnormal" and
"not equal" as if you were discussing a chemistry experiment.

Several people have tried reasoning with you, some have tried parsing
your actual thoughts, and others have mocked and derided you. What we
see, but what you've so far refused to admit, is that your "opinion"
is purely emotional and has zero intellectual content. What that
"opinion" amounts to is nothing more than "marriage is defined as
between a man and a woman". Your defense of that "opinion" has only
been "that's the way it's always been". These are not intellectual or
political arguments; they are purely emotional.

You also seem to want your opponents on this issue to give you a
break. You've used the wishy-washy "not as bad as certain others"
argument because you're in favor of civil unions as a substitute for
marriage. You've tried hiding from the argument entirely by claiming
that Senator Kerry has the same position you have, as if that would
somehow shield your "opinion" from scrutiny. We all know politicians
are not known for being truthful. Is that the company you want to
keep?

I'll tell you how you can get the break you want: Just admit your
"opinion" is purely emotional, that it's simply the way you feel, and
you can't help it, and you don't want to change it. Then shut up about
it. See what I mean? Your position is indefensible on logical,
political, or religious grounds, but you've tried repeatedly to defend
it on all of them. You've failed miserably. The only company in which
you'd find support is one where they share your core beliefs -- such
as that the division of "normal" versus "abnormal" SHOULD be part of
politics. You won't get that here, except from throwbacks like
Krooger.

So that's my advice. Take it or leave it. We all have prejudices. Most
of us have learned that purely emotional biases are better left
unspoken. This is one such case.

In Socky's case, his prejudices are purely irrational, which is why he can't
defend them any better than he has.

See:

http://www.democraticunderground.com.../06_legal.html