56 cents for today's news AND the opinion of an idiot!

[Helen_s_Eidolon]

This is a letter to the editor that appeared in the Montreal Gazette, in reaction to the current trial concerning same-sex marriage before the Canadian Supreme Court.

In your April 29th artice “I’m going to stay gay until the end of my life,” MP says," many opinions are put forth supporting and opposing same-sex marriage. No matter what side of the fence one might be on, the fact remains that everyone should be very concerned about the consequences of making such a radical shift.

Supporters of same-sex marriage cannot gurantee a secure future, for they have no historical, moral or scientific basis to do so. No one knows what the fall-out will be from having in essence a more gay society, as people increasingly acceptand engage in homosexual behaviour.

People perception of marriage has greatly changed in the past 30 years to the point that it is no longer recognizable. Where at one time we all understood that sexual relations were reserved for after marriage, we are today facilitating sexual relations at the teenage level by condom distribution.

While once we did not live as husband and wife until tying the know, it is now pracically conventional wisdom that a couple must live together before marrying. while in the past marriage was intended to bring forth the gift of children, children have gone from being a gift to a product that can be ad when convenient and even disposed of if not wanted.

The pillars virginity, purity, committment and children have all but beenthrown out , and one of the last remaining pillars, heterosexuality, is being threatened. To redefine marriage to include same-sex partmers is to put the final nail on the coffin of the institution of marriage.

When something is broken, you fix it, and when something is lacking, you improve it. The definition of marriage is neither lacking or broken but is an ideal that is supported by history, experience, a majority of religious convictions and science as the best structure in which both heterosexual partners involved and their children can flourish. It is we who are broken and lacking because we fail to live up to the ideals of marriage, and so we seek to change it to make ourselves feel better.

David Lombardi

Well. Here is our (mine and New & Improved Scott’s) response, and we would love any suggestions or editing.

We would like to reply to David Lombardi’s letter printed on May 3rd. Not only did his letter contain offensive and outdated opinions, but also blatantly wrong and unproven (as well as unprovable) “facts”. Mr. Lombardi has stated that he believes science and history have proven that heterosexuality is the best way of keeping society and the family stable. If, in fact, there are such peer-reviewed studies, we would love to see them. There have been countless examples of societies in which homosexuality was accepted who flourished, such as the ancient Athenians. As to how science could prove such a thing, I am left puzzled.

His views on premarital relations are irrelevant to our society in this day and age. He in no way shows how his idealized system of not living together until “tying the knot” is any more effective than the common habit people have nowadays of living together before marriage. He objects to condom distribution to teenagers as facilitating premarital sex, yet teenagers were having sex long before the condom was even invented. Our generation did not invent the term “shotgun wedding”.

The truth is that there are many gay couples who would love nothing more than to live up to Mr. Lombardi’s ideals of commitment, and even children in marriage. Excluding gay people from this “institution” only devalues it further by denying people who truly want to live up to this model.

Lauren [lastname] and Scott [lastname]

Now, what we couldn’t say in the letter:

You are dumb. So so very dumb. “The pillars of viginity, purity…”? My goodness. What world are you living in?

Scott is shocked to find that Mr. Lombardi believes that the pillars of children are being thrown out. How’s that for a mental image? And we have decided that “pillars of viginity” would be a great name for a porn movie.

And while I would dearly have loved to add this, I figured I shouldn’t. This leter is a perfect example of why we need to put more money into education.

[Eonwe]

Ha! I know plenty of people who would like to lose their “pillars of virginity,” if you know what I mean.

Anyway, my two cents on the letter are as follows:

There have been countless examples of societies in which homosexuality was accepted who flourished, such as the ancient Athenians.

I had to read this sentence twice for it to make sense. Maybe rephrase it to say, “there have been countless examples of societies who flourished while accepting homosexuality, such as the ancient Athenians.”

Otherwise, it looks good to me.

[Payton_s_Servant]

A couple of things you might want to change in your response:

1. I don’t know that the term shotgun wedding explicitly refers to teenagers having to be married as a result of impregnation. You might want to do a bit of research on that.

2. I think that, “the practice today of …” is much better then "the common habit". Indeed, the “common habit” doesn’t really fit at all.

Other then that, it looks fine.

Remember, write once, read aloud once, rewrite once, then send it off to the publishers.

[Guinastasia]

I’d remind him also to take a history course. People were not pure little virgins until marriage in the past. Homosexuality, premarital sex, “living in sin”-have ALWAYS been around.