The end of the world as we know it?

[Tom Beck]

The state of Oregon has begun to recognize and authorize legal same-sex  
marriages. (Oregon law does not define marriage as between a man and a  
woman, saying only that it is restricted to men and women over 17. A  
judge ruled that meant the state could not refuse to recognize same-sex  
marriages, and Multnomah County, the county Portland is located in,  
began performing same-sex marriages recently.) This offers us a perfect  
laboratory to conduct a scientific test. Since the alarmists about  
same-sex marriage are claiming it will lead to all kinds of disastrous  
consequences, we are now in a position to see if they are right. Either  
the universe will come to an end, or nothing much will change. I, of  
course, am betting on the latter, but now we will be able to gather  
some objective evidence rather than merely flap our gums.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/12/pcc/index.html

Oregon law states marriage is "a civil contract entered into by males  
at least 17 years of age and females at least 17 years of age." It does  
not define marriage as between one woman and one man exclusively.

The chief counsel of the Oregon Legislature advised Multnomah County  
commissioners withholding marriage licenses from same-sex couples was  
unconstitutional.

Commissioners then directed that licensing policy be changed to include  
couples of the same gender.

Nicole Berge, psychology major at Portland Community College, said she  
was shocked when she heard people of the same sex were legally marrying  
in Portland. "I disagree with it completely."

She straightened in her chair. "It'll make the world go to hell. It's  
corrupted already. This just adds to the list," the student, who  
identified herself as a Christian and a Republican, said.



Well, we’ll soon find out.

The world is not going to go to hell (unless, like that woman quoted  
above, you think it already will). The world did not go to hell when  
they stopped discriminating against Jews, it did not go to hell when  
slavery was abolished, it did not go to hell when they integrated Major  
League Baseball, it did not go to hell when they integrated the armed  
forces, it did not go to hell after Brown vs the Board of Education, it  
did not go to hell after the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s, it did not  
go to hell after the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s, it did  
not go to hell when we had vastly increased immigration (legal and  
illegal) to the US, it did not go to hell when they let women into the  
military academies, and it did not go to hell when the Supreme Court  
invalidated laws against racially mixed marriages (and the same kind of  
people who are predicting it will go to hell now were predicting it  
would go to hell after each and every one of those past events - not  
much of a track record on being right with their predictions, huh?),  
and it’s not going to go to hell now. Frankly, I wish the people who  
make these predictions would look back on their dismal record of  
inaccuracy (0%) and make the logical deduction. I’m not holding my  
breath.

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Tom Beck

my LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomfodw/

"I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never thought I'd  
see the last." - Dr. Jerry Pournelle

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