It's here in ID now...

[carlimac]

No, not ebola. Gay marriage. My county had 7 couples apply for a license yesterday. Surrounding counties-  goose egg, nada, zilch.   Much ado about next to nothing. 

 

Sometimes it's nice to live in a really bland part of the country. 

[carlimac]

In other Idaho news...

 

http://www.localnews8.com/news/idaho-man-charged-after-burrito-thrown-at-worker/29142592

 

   

[MarginOfError]

This is outrageous.  Throwing tacos and burritos at underpaid employees is my right.  THIS IS AMERICA!

[mordorbund]

MoE, how does someone else lobbing low-quality foods in any way hamper your ability to do the same? Is your trajectory suddenly blocked? Does your arm spontaneously fail to function (that's probably most likely)? Is your aim now deficient (better stop now before it gets too personal)?

[PolarVortex]

I really wonder how the same-sex marriage thing will play out over the next few decades.  If I had to guess, I'd say that in 2030 same-sex marriages will have long been legal everywhere in the U.S., that only a few thousand same-sex marriages will be performed each year, that a rapid rise in messy same-sex divorces will make many same-sex couples think twice about marriage, and that the long-term net effect of same-sex marriages will be close to zero except for two things: (1) taxes and government benefits will change for a small number of people in same-sex marriages, and (2) there will be a push from a small faction to legalize all forms of marriage between any number of consenting human adults... and the courts, having set some problematic precedents earlier in the century, will be tied in knots trying to sort it all out.

 

And while I have my crystal ball out, I predict that a new school of thought will become dominant through Christian denominations around the world by 2030.  It will hold that Biblical verses against homosexual activity are really prohibitions against sexual perversions (e.g., the so-called "temple prostitutes") that are merely described in connection with homosexual acts, and that homosexuality itself is not a perversion.  Many Christian churches will come around to this way of thinking.  They won't totally repudiate their past opposition to homosexuality, but they will start viewing themselves more as opponents of irresponsible sexual activity and less as opponents of same-sex intimacy.  

 

I'm not saying I agree with this, just that I think it's probable.  And I have no idea if the LDS Church will change its thinking on this issue in my lifetime.  Interesting how quickly this all has changed.  If the Church had come out in 1970 supporting same-sex marriage, it would have destroyed the Church.  Masses of members would have left.  Less than 50 years later, people are leaving the Church for the opposite reason.  Social issues in the 21st century make us all corks on the ocean.

Edited October 16, 2014 by PolarVortex

[Just_A_Guy]

This is outrageous.  Throwing tacos and burritos at underpaid employees is my right.  THIS IS AMERICA!

 

When burritos are outlawed, only outlaws will have burritos.

[Just_A_Guy]

I really wonder how the same-sex marriage thing will play out over the next few decades.  If I had to guess, I'd say that in 2030 same-sex marriages will have long been legal everywhere in the U.S., that only a few thousand same-sex marriages will be performed each year, that a rapid rise in messy same-sex divorces will make many same-sex couples think twice about marriage, and that the long-term net effect of same-sex marriages will be close to zero except for two things: (1) taxes and government benefits will change for a small number of people in same-sex marriages, and (2) there will be a push from a small faction to legalize all forms of marriage between any number of consenting human adults... and the courts, having set some problematic precedents earlier in the century, will be tied in knots trying to sort it all out.

 

I think we're going to have a major budget crisis in the next few decades, at which point people will start saying "wait a minute--why are we giving all these government handouts to people just because of the fact that they (claim they) are sexually exclusive with each other?  Why are we paying county clerks and government officials to record who's having sex with whom?" and civil marriage may be phased out completely on a state-by-state basis.  And I suspect that not a few of these questions are going to come from the religious right.  (And frankly, while I suspect the Church would oppose this . . . I personally, as a libertarian sympathizer, have a hard time understanding why this would necessarily be a bad thing.)

 

 

And while I have my crystal ball out, I predict that a new school of thought will become dominant through Christian denominations around the world by 2030.  It will hold that Biblical verses against homosexual activity are really prohibitions against sexual perversions (e.g., the so-called "temple prostitutes") that are merely described in connection with homosexual acts, and that homosexuality itself is not a perversion.  Many Christian churches will come around to this way of thinking.  They won't totally repudiate their past opposition to homosexuality, but they will start viewing themselves more as opponents of irresponsible sexual activity and less as opponents of same-sex intimacy.  

 

I agree.  I had always figured the Catholic Church would be something of a bulwark keeping the LDS Church from getting too much heat for its adherence to the law of chastity; and now it seems we're in the early stages of that bulwark evaporating.

 

But then again, I rather suspect we're in the early stages of something very big happening to American sexual life.  For one thing, the secular grounds for stigmatizing and preventing prostitution are really quite tenuous.  For another, one in three Americans (not American adults--Americans) has an STD.  There is a desperate (and largely unspoken) demand out there for sexual partners who are not festering with some revolting ailment or other.

 

Herodotus reported that Babylonian women of the fifth century BC were required by law to serve as temple prostitutes at least once in their lifetimes; and as I recall this was a custom that dated back to the ancient Sumerians over a thousand years earlier.  If one believes that the latter days are truly going to be days of unparalleled wickedness, this is one of the things that needs to be factored into the equation.  What socio-ideological barriers exist to keep the United States from sliding into the ancient Sumerian/Babylonian practice?  In what way are these barriers being reevaluated, redefined, and ultimately weakened as we speak?  

 

Consider the following ideas or developments, all gaining some traction at present, and consider how they might all come together:

• An active sex life is an essential element of overall mental and physical health.
• It is the state's role to guarantee the medical well-being of each and every citizen.
• An individual has a right to sexual intercourse with a partner of his or her choosing.
• Individual liberties are subject to reasonable restrictions in the name of the greater good.  In an ordered society where rule of law prevails, citizens should expect that occasionally they will be required to part with property and/or give "services" to others even if they, of themselves, would prefer not to do so.
• "Consent" to sexual activity must be expressed in a highly particularized manner.  Of course, we all know (but won't say) that this manner of giving consent is so stilted as to be ridiculous and will probably almost never be deployed in practice.  Having established the norm that most sex isn't truly consensual, the next question is:  Why do we get so wrapped up in this unnatural concept of "consent" anyways? (Or, in other words--when everyone's a rapist, no one is.)
• It is no longer the essential role of a parent to be the primary caretaker, protector, and/or moral influence over his or her offspring.

 

I'm not saying I agree with this, just that I think it's probable.  And I have no idea if the LDS Church will change its thinking on this issue in my lifetime.  Interesting how quickly this all has changed.  If the Church had come out in 1970 supporting same-sex marriage, it would have destroyed the Church.  Masses of members would have left.  Less than 50 years later, people are leaving the Church for the opposite reason.  Social issues in the 21st century make us all corks on the ocean.

 

We shall see, I suppose.  I, for one, believe the Church will not--can not--move as much as the left wants it to; and I think the the plan Satan yet has in store for the followers of Christ will put Edmunds-Tucker in the little leagues.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Just_A_Guy

[The Folk Prophet]

And I have no idea if the LDS Church will change its thinking on this issue in my lifetime. 

 

Really?

 

If the Church had come out in 1970 supporting same-sex marriage, it would have destroyed the Church.  Masses of members would have left.  Less than 50 years later, people are leaving the Church for the opposite reason.  Social issues in the 21st century make us all corks on the ocean.

 

We all know that the gospel is actually driven by social issues. 

[NightSG]

When burritos are outlawed, only outlaws will have burritos.

 

But will they be able to marry their burritos?

[The Folk Prophet]

We shall see, I suppose.  I, for one, believe the Church will not--can not--move as much as the left wants it to; and I think the the plan Satan yet has in store for the followers of Christ will put Edmunds-Tucker in the little leagues.

 

What was it MoE accused me of the other day? Something about the ranks of Mormon paranoia?