Fun at RJ Battles

My plan for the year was to make RJ Battles a fun place to go. I'd like to make it funny too, but i'm not so good at that, though I have my moments.

I have some interest in politics but I have zero interest in talking about issues with other people- it's a drag, and even if it was possible to change other people's opinions, why would you want to.

I have a clear opinion on all issues, all except one. I'm on both sides of the gay marriage debate. And I have a problem with the extreme people on both sides.

This is the way I look at marriage:

For years and years, all over the world, there have been marriages between a man and a woman. A man and a woman would come together and be joined as one, meaning that their friends, family, and community would view them as one single unit.

And for most of the people who are alive and old enough to vote, that's how they grew up with the idea of marriage.

Now over the past 40 years gays have made a lot of well- deserved progress. Homosexuality used to be viewed as a psychological disorder. Now it is seen by most rational people as a normal part of life. Even if they have reservations about it, they've accepted the fact that it isn't evil.

Still there are a lot of older people that legitimate concerns about allowing gay marriage. And the people who are most passionatly pro- gay marriage need to admit that even 20 years ago, nobody was saying that gay people should be allowed to marry. It's till a very new idea and people aren't sold on it yet.

My friend Pearl (a straight widow) said to me once, "Life is so short; if gay people want to get married then just let them," and I think I agree with her.

There are people who say that allowing gay marriage will weaken the intitution of marriage and I don't believe that. A lot of people have pointed out the multiple marriages of people like Rush Limbaugh, and again, I have to agree. There are way too many straight people who don't take marriage seriously. the get married for the wrong reasons, for instance, they get married because they feel they're expected to, or they start seeing all their friends get married. And they don't take the vows seriously- it's a promise that you make to love and care for another person until death. And you make this promise in front of all your friends and family.

Divorce should be a last resort. I'm not saying it should be harder to obtain a divorce, I mean, people who marry should make every attempt to make the marriage work.

I've seen it- people get bored, or let themselves go, or they keep looking around because they feel like they deserve someone better, their "feelings have changed", they've "grown apart", they "don't feel that magic anymore".

I believe that straight people are doing great harm to the institution of marriage, and I tend to think that gay people just might strengthen marriage.