Comments on: Not Such a Gay Ol’ Time in California

By: Prop 8 Passes in California | taxgirl

Prop 8 Passes in California | taxgirl — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:19:10 +0000

[...] a contentious fight, as blogged previously, supporters of Prop 8 declared victory in California on yesterday. Proposition 8 defines marriage [...]

By: moya

moya — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:44:08 +0000

thanks so much kelly for making the time and effort to post this well-informed counter to Peterson’s assertions, which, as you note, play on fear and which are untrue and which, unfortunately, seem to be working.

alas — were it true what @Chris says in the comment above, that “gays definitely get tolerance” in society today, this fear-based tactic would not work so well, and we would not have to see so many truly mean reactions and attitudes towards gay people during this battle.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:29:41 +0000

All of these are missing the point by focusing on the merits of gay marriage by itself. I’m not a lawyer, but here’s how I think the law should be interpreted. Churches should lose their tax exempt status, if they preach a position on whether gay marriage should be legal, at least in the context of a political campaign. The legality of gay marriage is a political not a religious issue. They should not lose their tax exempt status if they merely use the pulpit to preach that gay marriage is immoral. That is a moral issue, and to people who are religious, moral issues can be reasonably seen as religious issues.

Political organizations, in fact, are not tax-exempt, although there are some political organizations that use various subterfuges to get around this for at least part of their activities, often calling them “education funds”, when the education is really advocacy.

Of course, there are also left-wing churches that preach from the pulpit. (Rev. Wright anyone?) There are even some that preach in favor of legalizing gay marriage. And some of them are even engaged in illegal activities, such as harboring illegal immigrants. There is just as much reason to remove their tax-exempt status.

PS: I am neutral on the issue of gay marriage itself.
And I’m not sure if churches should be tax-exempt in the first place.
And by tax-exempt I mean the deductibility of contributions. Of course, churches do not make a profit, so their profits cannot be taxed.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:07:16 +0000

Rebecca, you’re absolutely right regarding the fear.

And here’s what ads like this are betting on: that you’ll buy it. Why do you think they asked a law professor to do the narration as opposed to Joe Smith? Because they think it somehow makes viewers feel that they’re right. No need to investigate or do research because a law professor said so. It doesn’t matter that he has blatantly misrepresented someone else’s work…

That’s my problem with many political ads – on both sides of the spectrum. It’s all ramped up “facts” and carefully chosen sound bites. It’s never about the real issues.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:11:41 +0000

Fear breeds hatred. Creating fear is the purpose behind the ad. Since there is nothing scary in reality in gay persons getting married, people have to make something up. What bothers me is that I live with so many people in this country who are so ready to believe any hateful, fearful thing they are told. Why don’t people investigate? Do research? Come to a rational conclusion that isn’t based on pure emotion? It’s frustrating.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:36:54 +0000

I personally don’t care a whole lot about this issue in regards to the religious aspects, but many do. If gays get married and have the same legal rights as Hetro’s, it doesn’t change life much for me. Gay rights groups claim that they want the same legal protections and tax benefits of straight couples and that is why they want gay marriage.

That may be true but Gays need to admit why they really want this so called right. They want it because it is the next step towards acceptance. We have been taught tolerance and gays definitely get that in society today. Now it is time for them to take it one step further. Tolerance is great but being tolerated still leaves a bad taste in their mouth’s at the end of the day because there are people like myself who will never accept it as being normal. I tolerate gays and their lifestyle and treat them with the respect any human being deserves. Gays want marriage to help normalize their lifestyle. They want to be accepted. Tolerance is not enough for them anymore because they want people to accept who they are and the lifestyle they have chosen. They don’t want to be thought of as abnormal or deviant, even if they are openly tolerated and left alone.
Unfortunately for gays, society is over 95% straight and if only 5% are gay ( probably less), then by definition they are not the norm. Marriage will not change that for them and marriage will not make their lifestyle normal.