Hot Button Issues
So I was talking to my older brother yesterday and the conversation went to an interesting place.
It started with me pointing out that my Dad is happy that our younger bro has moved in with his GF. You see my father wants all of us to be married and producing grandkids[ younger bro is 30, older is 41- none of us has thus far produced a 'next gen']. My brother wondered aloud whether my father has EVER thought that maybe because of his[ my dad's] THREE marriages.
While I have indeed thought about my Dad's marriages in relation to my relationships or lack thereof, I didn't mention that to my older brother... instead I mentioned to him that our has raised the issue that I'm anti authority, without IMHO, realizing that perhaps my problem with authority was DAD.
This lead a bit to my 'rant' about organized religion. My telling my brother that I'm in the heart of 'Catholic Country' here in Boston and that my governor puts HIS religion above the people of Ma. My brother got annoyed with this, pointing out to me that we, as democrats, need to REACH OUT to religious people; we need to mend fences and find a common ground.
I retorted that I don't find people who BELIEVE in g-d annoying, but organized religion. I don't like people who tell me if I don't accept Jesus, I'm going to Hell. I told him that the Catholic church went so far as to tell John Kerry( whom my brother likes) that if he didn't follow the church to the letter, HE'S going to Hell.
My brother pointed out, what do I care about that?
And my response; my ANGER that in 11 states in 2004, people turned out in droves to vote AGAINST gay marriage.... That Mitt is still trying to get rid of gay marriages here in Ma.
This is nothing new to this blog... However as he pointed out that marriage is a quasi religious institute and he thinks marriage is 'dead', I realized that even though I'm not gay and don't have any plans to get married... This IS a hot button issue for me. I believe it's not about marriage, but about equal rights.
I tried explaining to my brother that one set of plaintiffs that brought the suit up here in Ma. did so because they were a gay couple and woman A gave birth to a baby, there were complications and the baby was put on one floor and the biological mother on another floor. Woman B, as she wasn't LEGALLY related to the baby, wasn't allowed to see the baby- so they brought this suit....
To me, it didn't matter if marriage is 'dead', what matters is that the republicans have found a BASE- that many poor people are more concerned with outlawing gay marriages then their jobs being outsourced. THAT is what vexxes me, and that's why I think that Human Rights are my hot button issues. To me, yes Iraq is important but the two issues that I'm going to be looking at in the next election or two is a) candidates stance on Gay Marriage and b) their stance on Gitmo. I really really dislike what's going on at Gitmo and how it's being handled by both the politicians and the media.
Again I don't think there's anything new here... I just find it interesting that Gay Marriage is in the top three issues for me. And that my older brother, who was an angry young man, has told me that he's no longer angry about politics... but I am.
Oh and my brother's hot button issue is government spending. He wants less military spending, more money for education and related programs. I agree totally, I just put spending a little further down my list.
It started with me pointing out that my Dad is happy that our younger bro has moved in with his GF. You see my father wants all of us to be married and producing grandkids[ younger bro is 30, older is 41- none of us has thus far produced a 'next gen']. My brother wondered aloud whether my father has EVER thought that maybe because of his[ my dad's] THREE marriages.
While I have indeed thought about my Dad's marriages in relation to my relationships or lack thereof, I didn't mention that to my older brother... instead I mentioned to him that our has raised the issue that I'm anti authority, without IMHO, realizing that perhaps my problem with authority was DAD.
This lead a bit to my 'rant' about organized religion. My telling my brother that I'm in the heart of 'Catholic Country' here in Boston and that my governor puts HIS religion above the people of Ma. My brother got annoyed with this, pointing out to me that we, as democrats, need to REACH OUT to religious people; we need to mend fences and find a common ground.
I retorted that I don't find people who BELIEVE in g-d annoying, but organized religion. I don't like people who tell me if I don't accept Jesus, I'm going to Hell. I told him that the Catholic church went so far as to tell John Kerry( whom my brother likes) that if he didn't follow the church to the letter, HE'S going to Hell.
My brother pointed out, what do I care about that?
And my response; my ANGER that in 11 states in 2004, people turned out in droves to vote AGAINST gay marriage.... That Mitt is still trying to get rid of gay marriages here in Ma.
This is nothing new to this blog... However as he pointed out that marriage is a quasi religious institute and he thinks marriage is 'dead', I realized that even though I'm not gay and don't have any plans to get married... This IS a hot button issue for me. I believe it's not about marriage, but about equal rights.
I tried explaining to my brother that one set of plaintiffs that brought the suit up here in Ma. did so because they were a gay couple and woman A gave birth to a baby, there were complications and the baby was put on one floor and the biological mother on another floor. Woman B, as she wasn't LEGALLY related to the baby, wasn't allowed to see the baby- so they brought this suit....
To me, it didn't matter if marriage is 'dead', what matters is that the republicans have found a BASE- that many poor people are more concerned with outlawing gay marriages then their jobs being outsourced. THAT is what vexxes me, and that's why I think that Human Rights are my hot button issues. To me, yes Iraq is important but the two issues that I'm going to be looking at in the next election or two is a) candidates stance on Gay Marriage and b) their stance on Gitmo. I really really dislike what's going on at Gitmo and how it's being handled by both the politicians and the media.
Again I don't think there's anything new here... I just find it interesting that Gay Marriage is in the top three issues for me. And that my older brother, who was an angry young man, has told me that he's no longer angry about politics... but I am.
Oh and my brother's hot button issue is government spending. He wants less military spending, more money for education and related programs. I agree totally, I just put spending a little further down my list.
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