Went back to gaming, got late, went beddy-bye, then a busy weekend... sorry.
Anyway, on with my reply...
"Not societies in general... but societies that adhere to religious mores. And that would be fine and dandy if the only way to get married is via church ceremony."
"What an arrogant prat."
Society (from dictionary.com):
1a. The totality of social relationships among humans.
1b. A group of humans broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture.
1c. The institutions and culture of a distinct self-perpetuating group.
I personally cannot think of a single society in human history that has defined marriage as anything other than the union of a man and a woman, no matter where it happens (or happened) to lie along the relgious-secular continuum.
Therefore, this not just a simple issue of civil vs. religious ceremony, and the church be damned if it disagrees with the new civil definition of marriage; it goes much deeper than that.
Indeed, far from being an "arrogant prat" defending "his" church's definition of marriage, Mr. Dooling almost certainly represents a sizable minority (possibly even a majority) of Canadians, Canadians who have a right to express their views like any other individual in a free & open society, people who are in fact defending a definintion that has existed for millenia.
Does that alone make them right? Of course not; they need to argue their case just like any other group.
Personally, I have yet to see a compelling argument against same-sex civil unions...
However, I do hate to see people dismissed out of hand by being called names, ridiculed (although ridicule certainly does have a place, as long as one doesn't get carried away with it, or use it in place of reasoned argument...), mocked, etc. , especially when the issue involves a core institution like marriage (hence this post).
Soooooo, rather than being angry and impatient with folks who resist what seems to you (and many others) an obviously needed change, let's try to be patient with them; this is another huge upheaval for people who are still trying to come to grips with all the other changes that marriage & family have undergone the last 40 years.
The sandbox gets smaller every year kids, so we all need to remember to place nice together... at least until we can find some other sandboxes. ;-]
Now, if you'll excuse, I must tend to some laundry... |
