[TML] Breeding (was: xBoat List Etiquette)

[Richard Aiken]

On Dec 29, 2007 2:43 AM, Jerry W Barrington <jursamaj at yahoo.com> wrote:
> This leads to the bizarre claim that allowing gay marriage will destroy
> straight marriage.
>
> I always want to respond with "So if we legalize gay marriage, you'll
> suddenly decide you need one?  Or your spouse will?"

I agree.  This makes no sense at all.  I think it dates back to when
the state's religion was seen as a service contract with a particular
diety.  As long as the people made the right sacrifices in the right
way, the society succeeded at its goals (won the war or whatever).
Which was the Romans problem with the Jews and later the Christians;
these oddballs didn't want to adhere to the "standard contract" but to
their own particular one.  And when the Christians got into the
driver's seat, they expected everyone else to join up (even before
they figured out amongst themselves what - exactly - everybody would
be joining).

So if you change the marriage contract, what contract gets changed
next?  The one that allows your society to "win?"

> One of his best tests (take-home even) was a list of things like [fetus,
> dolphin, convicted felon, you, me, etc.].  Now state which have a "right to
> life".  Now explain why this set=yes and that set=no.

Mine did an in-class exercise.  He asked everybody for their
astrological sign, taking careful notes on a class seating chart as
each responded.  Then he shuffled through several stacks of little
strips of paper, before handing these out (face down) to the class.
Once everyone had their particular strip, he told us to turn them over
and read them.

It was a description of a fairly-nice personality type (but containing
a lot of weasel phrases).  Then he asked everyone how well their
descriptions fit with their professed signs.  Everyone (especially the
young females who made up half the class) said it fit rather well.

Then he smiled and announced: "Each of you got EXACTLY the same
description."  It took a couple of seconds before most of the class
got it.  The guys generally blushed and chuckled.  But those young
women looked ROYALLY pissed!

> Which is why such thinking is so dangerous.  Pluralism isn't going away
> (certainly not without a large, bloody fight).

Ob Trav: The Ziru Sirka - the extremely conservative Vilani weren't
happy that everybody wasn't like them.  So they decided to MAKE
everybody be like themselves (at least as far as interstellar
interactions were concerned).

-- 
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident."  Robert A. Heinlein