Gay Marriage

[Tink]

Agree with you, overhang.

Giving the rights to one, takes the rights from another, and this is the children in this case.
I said I would stand up for marraige (the family unit) and the children, and I am.
Changing the law to state the fact that its OK to take children away from their parents, is not right.
Thats not what marraige is about

Every generation is a new generation, and I believe the children have the right to the same values and biological truth that we grew up with.

Syd, we have seen bad things happen with gay couples as well so making out that their relationships are all perfect, is not true.
Every step taken further to the left, the next request will be waiting to be changed.

It has just fallen through in Tasmania, not passed.
Its a minority making alot of noise

The votes werent even close the last time they tried nationally, and thats without the Libs voting, so if they feel its more than a few, bring on the referendom, give it to the people and let us all speak.

 

[Calliope]

The votes werent even close the last time they tried nationally, and thats without the Libs voting, so if they feel its more than a few, bring on the referendom, give it to the people and let us all speak.

Federally a same-sex marriage bill is dead in the water.

Only a year ago a same-sex marriage bill was defeated in the House of Representatives 98-42. That is not a close vote. Since then Labor, the main same-sex marriage party, has lost a swag of seats and the Coalition, the main traditional marriage party, has gained seats. The September 2010 debate saw the Coalition vote as a bloc against same-sex marriage. Even if Coalition MPs had voted on conscience the bill would have been defeated by a wide margin. This remains the situation.

- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opi...y-e6frg74x-1226749264326#sthash.BTjALqGR.dpuf

 

[Calliope]

Syd, we have seen bad things happen with gay couples as well so making out that their relationships are all perfect, is not true.

Yes, they are not all angels.

 

[bellenuit]

Every generation is a new generation, and I believe the children have the right to the same values and biological truth that we grew up with.

Tink, whereas I agree with you that the "biological truth" about homosexuality hasn't changed, at least in the more recent millennia of human evolution, that truth has only been realised in the last 50 years or so. Previously homosexuality was not understood and was stigmatised based on ignorance, superstition and just plain bigotry.

Nobody has the right to instil in children values that were previously wrong because they were based on such falsehoods. I certainly have not taught my son, now grown up, some of the values that were taught to me by my parents and the schools I went to. They were all good meaning people who wouldn't hurt a fly, but looking back many of their attitudes were plain racist and in relation to sexuality discriminatory and damaging both physically and mentally.

The truth is out there and may only be understood over time. But I don't expect to find it in a stone age manuscript.

 

[Tink]

Bellenuit, that had nothing to do with gays. A few had mentioned about divorce rates and dysfunction in society already, and I dont think thats a reason to change the marraige act.

I think gays have been accepted in society already, and I havent said anything mean towards them.

I am standing up for traditional marraige and I have given my reasons why.

 

[bellenuit]

Bellenuit, that had nothing to do with gays. A few had mentioned about divorce rates and dysfunction in society already, and I dont think thats a reason to change the marraige act.

I think gays have been accepted in society already, and I havent said anything mean towards them.

I am standing up for traditional marraige and I have given my reasons why.

Tink. My appologies for taking your comment in the wrong context.

 

[bellenuit]

Not what one would have expected.....

 

[ftw129]

 

[Tink]

After the ninth attempt around Australia, NSW says NO to Gay Marraige.

 

[ftw129]

A few more years until a lot of you old, stubborn fools die off and this whole thing is going to be looked back on as a total disgrace led by a much older and out of touch generation.

Shame that it's going to have to drag out a bit longer and make such a large and important part of the human population seem as irrelevant.

Shame on you all really. After living lives that witnessed much hate and oppression you'd think that you would be wise enough to promote love and equality for all.

Instead of having learned from the mistakes of humanity you still allow yourselves to be driven by FEAR, resentment, hate and ego's.

Pity you can't be as mature about it as your own children.

Move over.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

A few more years until a lot of you old, stubborn fools die off and this whole thing is going to be looked back on as a total disgrace led by a much older and out of touch generation.

Shame that it's going to have to drag out a bit longer and make such a large and important part of the human population seem as irrelevant.

Shame on you all really. After living lives that witnessed much hate and oppression you'd think that you would be wise enough to promote love and equality for all.

Instead of having learned from the mistakes of humanity you still allow yourselves to be driven by FEAR, resentment, hate and ego's.

Pity you can't be as mature about it as your own children.

Move over.

When you refer to your opponents as "old fools", who should "die off", is that not also an expression of fear and hate? When you suggest to your opponents that they should "move over" are you saying that they should be made to feel irrelevant and inferior in the same way that you now feel irrelevant and inferior? When you say "shame on you all", do you feel ashamed of who you are?

Just so you know, I am neither an opponent nor advocate of gay marriage. While your feelings of shame and inferiority were caused by a judgmental older population, and while your anger is completely understandable, you might get more relief by examining your thought pattens of self-judgment that remain as a result.

In other words... "there's nothing wrong with you!! Relax!"

 

[ftw129]

When you refer to your opponents as "old fools", who should "die off", is that not also an expression of fear and hate? When you suggest to your opponents that they should "move over" are you saying that they should be made to feel irrelevant and inferior in the same way that you now feel irrelevant and inferior? When you say "shame on you all", do you feel ashamed of who you are?

Just so you know, I am neither an opponent nor advocate of gay marriage. While your feelings of shame and inferiority were caused by a judgmental older population, you might get more relief by examining your thought pattens of self-judgment that remain as a result.

Thank you GB. I'll remember that.

 

[ftw129]

1. Love. Perhaps the most important. Fall in love, if you aren't already. If you have, fall in love with your partner all over again. Abandon caution and let your heart be broken. Or love family members, friends, anyone -- it doesn't have to be romantic love. Love all of humanity, one person at a time.

2. Get outside. Don't let yourself be shut indoors. Go out when it's raining. Walk on the beach. Hike through the woods. Swim in a freezing lake. Bask in the sun. Play sports, or walk barefoot through grass. Pay close attention to nature.

3. Savor food. Don't just eat your food, but really enjoy it. Feel the texture, the bursts of flavors. Savor every bite. If you limit your intake of sweets, it will make the small treats you give yourself (berries or dark chocolate are my favorites) even more enjoyable. And when you do have them, really, really savor them. Slowly.

4. Create a morning ritual. Wake early and greet the day. Watch the sun rise. Out loud, tell yourself that you will not waste this day, which is a gift. You will be compassionate to your fellow human beings, and live every moment to its fullest. Stretch or meditate or exercise as part of your ritual. Enjoy some coffee.

5. Take chances. We often live our lives too cautiously, worried about what might go wrong. Be bold, risk it all. Quit your job and go to business for yourself (plan it out first!), or go up to that girl you've liked for a long time and ask her out. What do you have to lose?

6. Follow excitement. Try to find the things in life that excite you, and then go after them. Make life one exciting adventure after another (with perhaps some quiet times in between).

7. Find your passion. Similar to the above tip, this one asks you to find your calling. Make your living by doing the thing you love to do. First, think about what you really love to do. There may be many things. Find out how you can make a living doing it. It may be difficult, but you only live once.

8. Get out of your cubicle. Do you sit all day in front of computer, shuffling papers and taking phone calls and chatting on the Internet? Don't waste your days like this. Break free from the cubicle environment, and do your work on a laptop, in a coffee shop, or on a boat, or in a log cabin. This may require a change of jobs, or becoming a freelancer. It's worth it.

9. Turn off the TV. How many hours will we waste away in front of the boob tube? How many hours do we have to live? Do the math, then unplug the TV. Only plug it back in when you have a DVD of a movie you love. Otherwise, keep it off and find other stuff to do. Don't know what to do? Read further.

10. Pull away from Internet. You're reading something on the Internet right now. And, with the exception of this article, it is just more wasting away of your precious time. You cannot get these minutes back. Unplug the Internet, then get out of your office or house. Right now! And go and do something.

11. Travel. Sure, you want to travel some day. When you have vacation time, or when you're older. Well, what are you waiting for? Find a way to take a trip, if not this month, then sometime soon. You may need to sell your car or stop your cable bill and stop eating out to do it, but make it happen. You are too young to not see the world. If need be, find a way to make a living by freelancing, then work while you travel. Only work an hour or two a day. Don't check email but once a week. Then use the rest of the time to see the world.

12. Rediscover what's important. Take an hour and make a list of everything that's important to you. Add to it everything that you want to do in life. Now cut that list down to 4-5 things. Just the most important things in your life. This is your core list. This is what matters. Focus your life on these things. Make time for them.

13. Eliminate everything else. What's going on in your life that's not on that short list? All that stuff is wasting your time, pulling your attention from what's important. As much as possible, simplify your life by eliminating the stuff that's not on your short list, or minimizing it.

14. Exercise. Get off the couch and go for a walk. Eventually try running. Or do some push ups and crunches. Or swim or bike or row. Or go for a hike. Whatever you do, get active, and you'll love it. And life will be more alive.

15. Be positive. Learn to recognize the negative thoughts you have. These are the self-doubts, the criticisms of others, the complaints, the reasons you can't do something. Then stop yourself when you have these thoughts, and replace them with positive thoughts. Solutions. You can do this!

16. Open your heart. Is your heart a closed bundle of scar tissue? Learn to open it, have it ready to receive love, to give love unconditionally. If you have a problem with this, talk to someone about it. And practice makes perfect.

17. Kiss in the rain. Seize the moment and be romantic. Raining outside? Grab your lover and give her a passionate kiss. Driving home? Stop the car and pick some wildflowers. Send her a love note. Dress sexy for him.

18. Face your fears. What are you most afraid of? What is holding you back? Whatever it is, recognize it, and face it. Do what you are most afraid of. Afraid of heights? Go to the tallest building, and look down over the edge. Only by facing our fears can we be free of them.

19. When you suffer, suffer. Life isn't all about fun and games. Suffering is an inevitable part of life. We lose our jobs. We lose our lovers. We lose our pets. We get physically injured or sick. A loved one becomes sick. A parent dies. Learn to feel the pain intensely, and really grieve. This is a part of life -- really feel the pain. And when you're done, move on, and find joy.

20. Slow down. Life moves along at such a rapid pace these days. It's not healthy, and it's not conducive to living. Practice doing everything slowly -- everything, from eating to walking to driving to working to reading. Enjoy what you do. Learn to move at a snail's pace.

21. Touch humanity. Get out of your house and manicured neighborhoods, and find those who live in worse conditions. Meet them, talk to them, understand them. Live among them. Be one of them. Give up your materialistic lifestyle.

22. Volunteer. Help at homeless soup kitchens. Learn compassion, and learn to help ease the suffering of others. Help the sick, those with disabilities, those who are dying.

23. Play with children. Children, more than anyone else, know how to live. They experience everything in the moment, fully. When they get hurt, they really cry. When they play, they really have fun. Learn from them, instead of thinking you know so much more than them. Play with them, and learn to be joyful like them.

24. Talk to old people. There is no one wiser, more experienced, more learned, than those who have lived through life. They can tell you amazing stories. Give you advice on making a marriage last or staying out of debt. Tell you about their regrets, so you can learn from them and avoid the same mistakes. They are the wisdom of our society -- take advantage of their existence while they're still around.

25. Learn new skills. Constantly improve yourself instead of standing still -- not because you're so imperfect now, but because it is gratifying and satisfying. You should accept yourself as you are, and learn to love who you are, but still try to improve -- if only because the process of improvement is life itself.

26. Find spirituality. For some, this means finding God or Jesus or Allah or Buddha. For others, this means becoming in tune with the spirits of our ancestors, or with nature. For still others, this just means an inner energy. Whatever spirituality means for you, rediscover it, and its power.

27. Take mini-retirements. Don't leave the joy of retirement until you are too old to enjoy it. Do it now, while you're young. It makes working that much more worth it. Find ways to take a year off every few years. Save up, sell your home, your possessions, and travel. Live simply, but live, without having to work. Enjoy life, then go back to work and save up enough money to do it again in a couple of years.

28. Do nothing. Despite the tip above that we should find excitement, there is value in doing nothing as well. Not doing nothing as in reading, or taking a nap, or watching TV, or meditating. Doing nothing as in sitting there, doing nothing. Just learning to be still, in silence, to hear our inner voice, to be in tune with life. Do this daily if possible.

29. Stop playing video games. They might be fun, but they can take up way too much time. If you spend a lot of time playing online games, or computer solitaire, or Wii or Gameboy or whatever, consider going a week without it. Then find something else to do, outside.

30. Watch sunsets, daily. One of the most beautiful times of day. Make it a daily ritual to find a good spot to watch the sunset, perhaps having a light dinner while you do so.

31. Stop reading magazines. They're basically crap. And they waste your time and money. Cancel your subscriptions and walk past them at the news stands. If you have to read something, read a trashy novel or even better, read Dumb Little Man once a day and be done.

32. Break out from ruts. Do you do things the same way every day? Change it up. Try something new. Take a different route to work. Start your day out differently. Approach work from a new angle. Look at things from new perspectives.

33. Stop watching the news. It's depressing and useless. If you're a news junky, this may be difficult. I haven't watch TV news or read a newspaper regularly in about two years. It hasn't hurt me a bit. Anything important, my mom tells me about.

34. Laugh till you cry. Laughing is one of the best ways to live. Tell jokes and laugh your head off. Watch an awesome comedy. Learn to laugh at anything. Roll on the ground laughing. You'll love it.

35. Lose control. Not only control over yourself, but control over others. It's a bad habit to try to control others -- it will only lead to stress and unhappiness for yourself and those you try to control. Let others live, and live for yourself. And lose control of yourself now and then too.

36. Cry. Men, especially, tend to hold in our tears, but crying is an amazing release. Cry at sad movies. Cry at a funeral. Cry when you are hurt, or when somebody you love is hurt. It releases these emotions and allows us to cleanse ourselves.

37. Make an awesome dessert. I like to make warm, soft chocolate cake. But even berries dipped in chocolate, or crepes with ice cream and fruit, or fresh apple pie, or homemade chocolate chip cookies or brownies, are great. This isn't an every day thing, but an occasional treat thing. But it's wonderful.

38. Try something new, every week. Ask yourself: "What new thing shall I try this week?" Then be sure to do it. You don't have to learn a new language in one week, but seek new experiences. Give it a try. You might decide you want to keep it in your life.

39. Be in the moment. Instead of thinking about things you need to do, or things that have happened to you, or worrying or planning or regretting, think about what you are doing, right now. What is around you? What smells and sounds and sights and feelings are you experiencing? Learn to do this as much as possible through meditation, but also through bringing your focus back to the present as much as you can in everything you do.

 

[Julia]

A few more years until a lot of you old, stubborn fools die off and this whole thing is going to be looked back on as a total disgrace led by a much older and out of touch generation.

Shame that it's going to have to drag out a bit longer and make such a large and important part of the human population seem as irrelevant.

Shame on you all really. After living lives that witnessed much hate and oppression you'd think that you would be wise enough to promote love and equality for all.

Instead of having learned from the mistakes of humanity you still allow yourselves to be driven by FEAR, resentment, hate and ego's.

Pity you can't be as mature about it as your own children.

Move over.

24. Talk to old people. There is no one wiser, more experienced, more learned, than those who have lived through life. They can tell you amazing stories. Give you advice on making a marriage last or staying out of debt. Tell you about their regrets, so you can learn from them and avoid the same mistakes. They are the wisdom of our society -- take advantage of their existence while they're still around.

Seems to be some confusion here.

 

[Calliope]

Seems to be some confusion here.

Yes, and completely off topic...unless it's the gay credo.

 

[sydboy007]

Not what one would have expected.....

Just have to say WOW. In Texas! Liberal housing policy, and seemingly liberal citizens too.

 

[ftw129]

Seems to be some confusion here.

I assure you there's no confusion (or so I think... I am still "young").

Obviously, not all "old people" are worth listening to... Just because you're old doesn't mean you're wise... as you'd know.

Yes, and completely off topic...unless it's the gay credo.

Perhaps. Point being there's much more important and worthwhile things to focus on in life. Like yourself.

Live in love. Not fear.

The "old" people should be teaching that to their children.

 

[Tink]

Nine bills in 2 years? Overload much?

Why do gays feel they need to force their sexual lifestyle on our children?
Why do we need to teach that in schools?

ftw, they already have all the rights and they are accepted in society.

Marraige is about the family unit.
For your information, young and old are both advocating for marraige to stay the same as is.
Mothers, fathers and their natural children is for the common good and the best for a healthy society.
No one is discluded and doesnt take the rights from another.
Thats what marraige is about.

What you wrote I could point straight back at you.

 

[ftw129]

Nine bills in 2 years? Overload much?

Why do gays feel they need to force their sexual lifestyle on our children?
Why do we need to teach that in schools?

Because a SIGNIFICANT portion of these children are gay.

10% or more.

Your views are completely outdated, irrelevant and inappropriate.

 

[trainspotter]

Because a SIGNIFICANT portion of these children are gay.

10% or more.

Your views are completely outdated, irrelevant and inappropriate.

Got any proof on the 10% quip?