Politics: Onward from New Hampshire

[Not Me]

Originally posted by sgtclub
One is not a bigot if one does not believe in religion, but one is a bigot if em does not like religious people solely because they are religious. The difference is that it the dislike is not based on logic.

What if I dislike them because they keep women shrouded in sheets from head to toe or stone a woman to death for a charge of adultery because they believe that god said that was what they should do? Can I dislike them for that or is that an illogical dislike and makes me a bigot?

If people think a group like Heaven's Gate is a religion and they believe that a mass suicide is necessary to get to heaven, am I wrong for not liking them solely because of that belief? Am I not being logical when I dislike them for having that religious belief?

Originally posted by sgtclub
One is not a bigot if one does not believe in same-sex marriage, but one is a bigot if em does not like homosexuals. Ty's point is that those against same sex marriage are against it as a proxy for really being against homosexuals.

What if one of the religious teachings of your religion is that homosexuality is a sin and you are against gay marriages for that reason? Are you a bigot because that is illogical to be against gay marriage when your religious leaders teach you it is a sin?

Originally posted by sgtclub
I am in the minority on polygamy, as I believe it should be legal because, as you are well aware, there is not a good justification for making it illegal.

I think that the possibility that bigamy will at least be de-criminalized is high unless we get a constitutional amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman given that the arguments used for gay marriage can be used to support polygamy and there is no good way to argue for one without also arguing for the other.

I also think that there are men who are not religious and who would engage in polygamy if it were legal. A good example is Francois Mitterand, who had a mistress that essentially was his second wife. He had a child by her and he financially supported that family and treated her and the child as his second family. She attended his funeral and was welcomed by society as a life partner of his. She was constructively his second wife regardless of whether she was called "wife" or not.