Prompt: Voting Absentee?
Music: Beatles-Revolution
And etc. Lunch on the Run (t)

Appalling. That’s the word I use…over and over and over again. It’s just appalling that a group of people could get together and decide to put arbitrary restrictions on a social institution as central to our society as marriage. Not only is marriage a sort of coming-of-age practice in our culture, but it comes with many legal and economic benefits. Married spouses have a much stronger legal bond. With that bond comes a sense of security that the strongest most enticing civil union in the world cannot guarantee. And then there’s the cultural connotations that come attached to marriage: there’s an implied sense of loyalty and committment that the community does not give to other relationships–however loyal and committed they may be.

If you couldn’t tell already, I have a very strong opinion on this….I actually wrote an persuasive ethics paper in AP Lang arguing why the U.S. should allow same-sex marriage. That was the first time I really thought about this topic; then within a month’s time of writing the paper I found out that my cousin is gay. By no means am I using that discovery to explain my strong convictions. Nor am I trying to win some odd sympathy because of this. It just makes the injustice hit a little closer to home.

To me, the biggest (and most absurd) point of contention people supporting Prop 8 use in their arguments is the concept of the traditional marriage. From my own experience, this concept is closely tied to many orthodox Christian teachings. Now I really don’t know much at all when it comes to Christianity and other related religious beliefs, so I’m not even going to try and pretend like I do. What I am going to address is the simple conclusion that many public figures have been coming to from this traditional marriage concept. In their views, a marriage is traditionally defined as a legally binding and recognized union between a man and a woman. Why? Because that is the way that the Western world has been defining marriage for centuries, and that is the way that it should remain. Only recently have homosexuals been coming out into the open about their sexual orientations. Only even more recently has our society started to pay attention to their justified demands for equality. In the minds of Prop 8 supporters, any changes made to an institution as highly touted in our society as marriage would only sully its name, weaken its value. Never mind that they are denying legal recognition of mutual love to millions of people. They are just protecting the name of marriage. But I ask you, at what cost? So that is their argument in a nutshell. Since marriage has been defined in that way for many many years, it should stay that way. Of course, it makes perfect sense. For centuries the world was defined to be flat. That was the traditional and socially accepted view. FYI, Columbus didn’t fall off the edge of the earth.

For those people, I have one simple request, religion aside, politics aside. Stand in front of a mirror. Look yourself in the eye and ask yourself this: Am I worthy of denying a fellow human being the simple right to be legally acknowledged for loving someone else? Am I important enough to impose my own views on people I don’t even know, on people whose beliefs don’t even threaten my own way of life? Do I really deserve to decide what our society deems as a socially and legally allowed relationship, what our society deems acceptable love? By the way, if you actually come across someone who can confidently answer “yes” to these questions, I wouldn’t suggest introducing them to me. :)

So I’m sorry if I’ve offended anyone. I really am. Reading over what I’ve written, “bitter” is a word that could jump to your mind. But if there’s one thing that seems wrong for one person to do to another, it is to prohibit them from being publicly and legally recognized for having a loving relationship with someone else. If there’s one thing that just seems like “the right thing to do,” however cliche that may sound in our cynical world, it is to VOTE NO on PROP 8.

All right. I’m getting off my soapbox now. It’s safe to come out. Oh yeah, I’m voting absentee (mailed my ballot last week). And I’m thrilled with being enfranchised : )

Prompt: A Plight of Insanity? Surely not!

Music: Office Work- John Powell

And Etc. which tastes like metal (3)

So I kind of feel like the ship has left the dock, traveled to new and exotic places…like Oklahoma…and then on its way out to sea again somehow I jumped on board. Not that I’m not excited to be a part of this; au contraire, this is exactly the kind of thing that makes me twiddle my thumbs and be grateful once again that I’m an aspiring writer.  It’s just that all of you seem to be so established in this blog…I’ll have to work twice as hard, perhaps even stand on my tiptoes as I have to do for most daily chores, to get up to your standard. So please, in the meantime, just humor me. I’m used to it, trust me :D

But in the meantime, I have to say that unless for my summer job, I definitely would not have even heard of Wordpress until now. I know, tsk tsk, but you’re looking at someone who plays Yahtzee during her spare time. But I was lucky to be brainwashed into a human spammer for various blogs on consumer products and so I found out about the world that is Wordpress.

Okay, so the prompt…all in all, this site looks amazing. I’m still getting the hang of maneuvering around on it, but what I’ve seen so far looks pretty good. Only one thing to point out: on my bio it says my name is “Earsplitting Whipser” instead of Whisper. I have no doubts that whipsers–especially earsplitting ones–are to be admired in every way possible, but I just thought I’d point that out :P

So after that smorgasbord (thanks for exposing me to that word, Jess) of blah I think I’ll just take a seat and let you all know that I’m really excited to be a part of this!

-EW