A Controversy Makes For Exciting Blogging Material(An accidental double post)

Today, while I was doing my daily facebook stalking, I was reading a friend's status update. It was about gay marriage. The chain of comments that followed were also about gay marriage. And more specifically about how 'stupid' and 'ignorant' and 'hateful' and 'ugly' the people who oppose gay marriage are. For WEEKS now, this subject has been bothering me, but I haven't said anything about it yet so now my thoughts have built to this point where my they are a bit too lengthy to fit in a status update. Thus, I blog. I thought I'd use the few thoughts that I used for my status update as a starting point and we'd go from there. 

I'm glad that I have such a diverse group of friends and that you all have strong opinions and are willing to share them. HOWEVER; hating people who hate gay people (WRONG though they may be) is hypocritical. Hating people who are against gay marriage, but who DON'T necessarily hate gay people (no, those two life views are not synonymous) is worse than hypocritical. It's ugly. It's mean. And you are wrong to do it. Spouting hate in ANY direction is wrong. If you believe in gay marriage, good for you...defend it. But leave those of us who defend traditional marriage alone to do as we believe is right.

For the record, I am against gay marriage. I believe in the sanctification of marriage for both religious and social reasons. Mostly, I believe that the term 'marriage' is defined as being a union between a man and a woman and that when a gay or lesbian desire to be joined, they are entering into a different kind of agreement. They can't be entering into a marriage because marriage is not defined as a union of two people who love each other. If two people who love each other and just happen to be two females or two males desire to be joined together contractually and spend the rest of their lives together, that is just fine...it just has to be called something different because it is a different kind of union. 

This is not a position of hate. It is not a position of ignorance. I have no fear of or hatred towards homosexuals. Some of my favorite people in the world just happen to be gay. I have no desire to keep gay people apart. I have no agenda to 'eradicate' them from society. I am a live and let live kinda gal. Your choices are your choices. HOWEVER, when you start trying to legally change the definition of something that has the potential to directly affect me and my ability to choose, I have to stand up against it. 

I don't want to go into any more detail about my beliefs about gay marriage than I already have. That's not what this post is about...if you have more questions, please feel free to ask me. I'm always up for a discussion about it. 
The point of this entry, however, is this: disagreeing with me is one thing; you are entitled to your opinion; BULLYING me, berating me, hating me, or verbally assaulting me because of my beliefs is a different thing entirely. It is completely hypocritical, morally objectionable, inappropriate and just plain rude. Just because someone thinks differently than you, doesn't mean you have the right to be condescending or judgmental. Isn't that one of the reasons you get so annoyed with the 'Christians' who spout off horrible comments about gays? Aren't you exuding the VERY BEHAVIOR you are seeking to abolish? 

You are allowed to express your opinion and I'm allowed to express mine. But can't we do so lovingly, understandingly and with regard to everyone's right to believe as they choose? I don't deserve to be called a bigot or hateful or any of the other things I just read in those comments. You don't know me. You don't know what I believe. You don't try to understand it or see where I'm coming from...you just label me and put me in a category because of something I believe in. 

Rude. 

Just stop it. 

A Controversy Makes For Exciting Blogging Material

Today, while I was doing my daily facebook stalking, I was reading a friend's status update. It was about gay marriage. The chain of comments that followed were also about gay marriage. And more specifically about how 'stupid' and 'ignorant' and 'hateful' and 'ugly' the people who oppose gay marriage are. For WEEKS now, this subject has been bothering me, but I haven't said anything about it yet so now my thoughts have built to this point where my they are a bit too lengthy to fit in a status update. Thus, I blog. I thought I'd use the few thoughts that I used for my status update as a starting point and we'd go from there. 

I'm glad that I have such a diverse group of friends and that you all have strong opinions and are willing to share them. HOWEVER; hating people who hate gay people (WRONG though they may be) is hypocritical. Hating people who are against gay marriage, but who DON'T necessarily hate gay people (no, those two life views are not synonymous) is worse than hypocritical. It's ugly. It's mean. And you are wrong to do it. Spouting hate in ANY direction is wrong. If you believe in gay marriage, good for you...defend it. But leave those of us who defend traditional marriage alone to do as we believe is right.

For the record, I am against gay marriage. I believe in the sanctification of marriage for both religious and social reasons. Mostly, I believe that the term 'marriage' is defined as being a union between a man and a woman and that when a gay or lesbian desire to be joined, they are entering into a different kind of agreement. They can't be entering into a marriage because marriage is not defined as a union of two people who love each other. If two people who love each other and just happen to be two females or two males desire to be joined together contractually and spend the rest of their lives together, that is just fine...it just has to be called something different because it is a different kind of union. 

This is not a position of hate. It is not a position of ignorance. I have no fear of or hatred towards homosexuals. Some of my favorite people in the world just happen to be gay. I have no desire to keep gay people apart. I have no agenda to 'eradicate' them from society. I am a live and let live kinda gal. Your choices are your choices. HOWEVER, when you start trying to legally change the definition of something that has the potential to directly affect me and my ability to choose, I have to stand up against it. 

I don't want to go into any more detail about my beliefs about gay marriage than I already have. That's not what this post is about...if you have more questions, please feel free to ask me. I'm always up for a discussion about it. 
The point of this entry, however, is this: disagreeing with me is one thing; you are entitled to your opinion; BULLYING me, berating me, hating me, or verbally assaulting me because of my beliefs is a different thing entirely. It is completely hypocritical, morally objectionable, inappropriate and just plain rude. Just because someone thinks differently than you, doesn't mean you have the right to be condescending or judgmental. Isn't that one of the reasons you get so annoyed with the 'Christians' who spout off horrible comments about gays? Aren't you exuding the VERY BEHAVIOR you are seeking to abolish? 

You are allowed to express your opinion and I'm allowed to express mine. But can't we do so lovingly, understandingly and with regard to everyone's right to believe as they choose? I don't deserve to be called a bigot or hateful or any of the other things I just read in those comments. You don't know me. You don't know what I believe. You don't try to understand it or see where I'm coming from...you just label me and put me in a category because of something I believe in. 

Rude. 

Just stop it. 

Life Lessons

Lessons learned while trying to duplicate the J-Dawgs secret hot dog sauce for dinner tonight:

1. I should pay attention to what I bought in the prior week, before making grocery purchases. I am now the proud owner of two and a half bottles of katsup, two large-ish bottles of cumin, and four jars of salsa.

2. Pickles are always worth the inevitable pickle-juice explosion that occurs when opening a new jar.

3. Procrastination can be beneficial. I'm really glad I didn't mop before making dinner. Because I had to open a new jar of pickles.

4. Marinade looks exactly like BBQ sauce.

5. Marinade tastes NOTHING like BBQ sauce.

6. J-Dawgs sauce is incapable of duplication.

7. But the stuff I made was pretty darn close and was completely worth having to scratch the first batch to make a second.

About My Cozy Nosey. And the Bugs That Go There.

I've decided that it's high time I write an entry about weird things that are happening to my body. Because who wouldn't want to spend the next five minutes feeling a little creeped out?

1. This classy lassy must have a cozy nosey because three bugs have paid my inner nostrils a visit in the last week. My theories on why this is happening are these: Either a) I breathe extremely deeply and am sucking them in like a tractor beam or b) my nostrils are extra comfy, slightly warm and offer a welcome break from the heat. It's not like I want to seem inhospitable but I sincerely wish they would stop going in there because it tickles and is fairly distracting while I drive. Why do they go in so easily and why are they then so hard to get out? I'm pretty sure about 90% of Bakersfield sincerely believes I pick my nose while I'm in my car. What an awful way for these winged beasties to meet their demise. Death by picking. You might think this is funny, but I assure you it's snot.

2. I'm itchy. I can't remember if this happens to me every summer but hot dang! It's annoying. I think it's on account of all the extra sweating one does when it's in the lower 90 degrees in April. My skin is rebelling against this ridiculously warm spring. Also, it might be because I spent a whopping .97 cents on a body wash at WalMart. Never again, I assure you. I was going for an inexpensive boost to my scent and ended up with..rabies or something. I'm pretty sure it's rabies. Rabies gives you itchy bumps on your belly, right?

3. The hair I lost while I was pregnant (which was excessive, let me assure you) is now growing back. This means that the front of my hair has little patches of new hair that is a foot shorter than the rest of my hair. I have a collection of mini-fros all over my hair line. It's super attractive.

4. I keep losing two pounds and then inexplicably gaining it back. I'm not really changing anything, so this is a mystery to me. I'm fairly happy with my weight right now...I wouldn't complain if I lost another 6 pounds or so, but hey..6 pounds is nothing. I'm sure it'll come off soon, if the current two pounds that are playing games with me will ever completely shed.

Anywhoo...bodies are weird and glorious and disgusting and beautiful all at the same time. I'm grateful for clothing. And my super cute swimsuit. And deodorant. And band-aids.