Traditional Marriage?

In the wake of New York breaking away from it's bigoted religious background there has been a lot of talk about marriage and what it entails. I have heard many conservatives advocate traditional marriage and they will appeal to the idea that marriage has always in the Judeo-Christian culture been between a man and a woman. I have multiple problems with this.

• The first and foremost problem is the it is a blatant appeal to tradition which is in itself logically fallacious. Just because that is what we have done in the past does not mean it is acceptable to continue the practice
• The second problem I have is we are a secular nation not run by the dogmas of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Our nation's law is governed by enlightenment principles not dark age tripe.
• My third and final problem with this is that today's institution is nothing like the traditional institution of marriage and for good reason it is out dated. Marriage has been redefined several times to fit our societal needs.

Just so you don't accuse me of justifying the redefinition of marriage with the fact that we have previously done so, I'm going to explain why these changes were for the best and why the change I advocate would be for the best.

First I would like to describe what the institution of the past, it was an institution inseparable from the church and subject to many stipulations. Not just that it must be between a man and a woman, there was a dowry that was required, marriages were often arranged and the women rarely got to choose who they were marrying, woman were to be submissive and more or less slaves,(Colossians 3:18) and in the bible it describes instances when  fathers sold rape victims to their rapist for continued abuse(Deuteronomy 22:28-29) , women had absolutely no rights in this institution the list goes on. Now I for one am personally glad the traditional institution of slavery sorry marriage has became a consenting contract and partnership between two individuals. I am glad that the institution no longer oppresses women as subhuman.

I think now you can see here why it is silly to appeal to tradition and why it was best to change the definition f marriage and why it was best to stop viewing women as property. Marriage today has become a legal contract for all intents and purposes which has made it easier for couple to live together. Married couples can visit each other in the hospital, file joint tax returns etc. all of these things make it easier to be a couple and denying certain groups these rights is a simple act of oppression. It is a way for the religious to more or less slap the gay community in the face and to treat them as subhuman. It is time that the religious know that they do not own or have a say over the lives others. It is sad to see that in the 21st century that the dogmas of a bronze age religion still oppress the nation. It is sad to see bigots advocate traditional marriage without knowing what it actually entails.

Religious Fear Pimps

 Why must religions exploit the fear of others to exist? For example their fear of death, and their fear of nonexistence. Not only does this religion say that you can defeat these fears and live for ever but it adds another fear, the fear of eternal torture. Not only do they exploit this fear in adults which is horrible but the exploit it in children which is despicable. An innocent child with a influential mind that can be taught that a flying fat man with magical reindeer delivers gifts to the entire world and a child that can be taught a magical bunny gives all of the children in the world candy one day out of the year. To scare these children with myths about this eternal place of torture is just plain bad parenting regardless of superstition, it is a crime to waste these minds on the superstitions of their parents. I recently found a video the exposes the kind of thing these people do to children and I think I will share it here.

To abuse the child's mind and to expose it to a myth that is a abhorrent that if someone were to recreate the event in the bible in a film the government ratings would prevent any child from viewing the film because of the overwhelming violence and the sexually explicit portions. But somehow it is acceptable to expose the children to this because it is a Holy Book.  I beg of you stop this fear pimping campaign on your children wait until your children are old enough to understand and comprehend what the bible says.

While I find exposing a child to such a violent and damning thing is reckless. I also believe that targeting adults is perfectly acceptable as they have the the reasoning faculties and are able to comprehend what the bible is saying. But this can also be extremely repulsive depending on the method they use, like claiming a false doomsday or threatening them with hell fire. This is a common tactic they incite fear and then offer to help you fight the boogie man they themselves created. All you have to do is give up your soul to their deity.

They also prey on the emotions that are already there which is probably their most despicable tactic. I have been to a few funerals in my life and without fail at every single one they tell the grieving that their loved one is in heaven regardless of their faith. Then they will tell them if they have found Jesus that they too can see him in heaven, it is absolutely repugnant to use a funeral as an opportunity to recruit. But what scares me most is that I was the only one in attendance that seemed to notice how repulsive that was.

Religion preys on the malleable minds of children, the human fear of death, and the sorrow of grieving families. This is repugnant and should not be tolerated. Also I would like to recommend to those that are interested to watch the documentary Jesus Camp, it gives you a vivid look into the tactics they use on children.