Girl Gets Death Threats for Defending God-Ordained Marriage

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

This isn't 'how liberals are', CaDan. It's how people are.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I found this the other day. It seemed appropriate.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/one-towns-war-on-gay-teens-20120202

I brought that up awhile back pointing out how vile Michele Bachmann's district was and everyone started making excuses for it. But yeah that article is vile. What's amazing is I can't imagine that type of stuff happening at my high school in North Dakota of all places.

There's a certain tipping point at which life is just too staid and low-key for anybody to bother much caring, I think. North Dakota from what I know of it would seem to fall right into that.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Eyeballing North Dakota as a state I'd guess that support for gay marriage is probably somewhere around a third or slightly more than a third, gay marriage plus civil unions somewhere in the very high thirties or low-to-mid forties (I might be lowballing that; you obviously know more about North Dakota than I do, since you're from there). Demonization of schoolteachers, as a proposition, would be very lucky to get even that sort of support anywhere other than krazen's brand of 'fiscally conservative' resentment-politics suburbia.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Eyeballing North Dakota as a state I'd guess that support for gay marriage is probably somewhere around a third or slightly more than a third, gay marriage plus civil unions somewhere in the very high thirties or low-to-mid forties (I might be lowballing that; you obviously know more about North Dakota than I do, since you're from there).

I don't think so.  (Compare to Utah).

That was enough time ago that I don't think assuming a 7-10 point swing in attitudes is unreasonable. Remember that in 2004 gay marriage nationwide was polling for the most part well under forty per cent.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Eyeballing North Dakota as a state I'd guess that support for gay marriage is probably somewhere around a third or slightly more than a third, gay marriage plus civil unions somewhere in the very high thirties or low-to-mid forties (I might be lowballing that; you obviously know more about North Dakota than I do, since you're from there).

I don't think so.  (Compare to Utah).

That was enough time ago that I don't think assuming a 7-10 point swing in attitudes is unreasonable. Remember that in 2004 gay marriage nationwide was polling for the most part well under forty per cent.

Even a 7-10 point swing still gets you to barely a third even supporting civil unions, and it must be remembered that there's a very large "Bradley effect" with gay marriage polling (see; Prop 8 and Maine).

I think the 'Bradley effect' is becoming chimerical on this issue. I think it's an issue of actually bothering to turn out; I think it's that that polls are bad at measuring on this issue. I don't think many people actually bother to outright lie to pollsters about it these days, because I can't really envision a psychology that would be cognizant enough of the way public morality works to bother to lie and at the same time hidebound enough to have that be a lie. I think most people who oppose gay marriage these days are pretty vocal about it.

Then again, I suppose we shall see in several states this year. If the apparent shift in opinion does turn out to have to do with people lying to pollsters in order to feel better about themselves, I'm about ready to give up and start my own monastic commune where people won't have to deal with this sort of gratuitously and needlessly cruel bullsh**t.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

“Hi, I’m Sarah Crank.  Today’s my 14th birthday, and it would be the best birthday present ever if you would vote ‘no’ on gay interracial marriage. I really feel bad for the kids who have two parents of the same gender different skin color.  Even though some kids think it’s fine, they have no idea what kind of wonderful experiences they miss out on. I don't want more kids to get confused about what's right and okay. I really don't want to grow up in a world where marriage isn't such a special thing anymore."

I don't know the reasoning behind this girl's and her family's opposition to gay marriage. However, I want to maintain that - from a Christian point of view - it is unfair to suggest that opposition to interracial marriage is the same as opposition to gay marriage. While opposition to interracial marriage in general cannot be backed up biblically, opposition to gay marriage is actually the default Christian position (look at the biblical evidence). Thus, it is simply not accurate to equate these two issues when it comes to a Christian's view on gay marriage.

I can think of at least seven possible interpretations of what the 'default Christian position' based on biblical evidence on this subject should be, off the top of my head.