I'm bored.
Jun. 16th, 2004 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
So I thought I'd list my views on a few controversial or interesting subjects.
1. Gay rights
I'd like to say I'm for them, but what I'm really for is human rights applied to all people equally. Saying "I support gay rights" sets you up to be attacked by the sillies who claim you're trying to get something special for gay people, which I'm not. The right to marry may not be a human right (after all, not all societies have marriage), but it is a legal right that should be extended to everybody, and yes, that means to gay couples. NOT to gay men who marry gay women so that they can get married. Who comes UP with this crap?
2. Otherkin
I'll be honest, I think the whole idea sounds silly. I think a lot of things sound silly, and this goes for the vast majority of beliefs. Since there is no way to prove you're wrong, and it's completely harmless to everyone, I don't care.
3. Religion
See otherkin. The only difference here is that some people have done horrible things in the name of religion. That's not just silly, that's wrong. However, I don't think it's inherant in religion that you go out and kill nonbelievers. Some people just need an excuse....
4. Lactation
Somebody on my friends list called this icky. I'm not going to argue (amazing!) because I agree. It IS icky. However, I still eat cheese, which comes from a much filthier animal than the average human, and which has rotten solid. I also think that sex is icky, and any food item which I've seen other people handling. Lots of things are icky. That's not very important in the grand scheme of things. Weirdly, I don't find menstruation icky at all. Just uncomfortable.
5. Children
Love 'em. Honestly. Never gonna have kids, though, because I only love them when I don't have to deal with them, and I really value what's left of my sanity.
6. Bush
He's not the president. He's stupid. He's crazy. His linguistic difficulties, though, are probably not caused by his stupidity, and I do wish people would stop insinuating that they are. Let's stick to the real issues, okay? Ad hominems aren't just disgusting when they attack the people with whom you agree.
That's all for now. I may or may not update my list.
7. Death penalty
Against it, on both practical and ethical grounds. Until we perfect telepathy, and can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our judgments are infallible, I can't pretend to support it. Even if we could read minds, I still would not support it because I suspect it would still be unfairly meted out. And, even if we fixed all these problems, I would STILL argue that 1. it's a poor punishment 2. it's not very effective and 3. killing people is wrong, no matter the justification.
8. Abortion
Well, I would prefer it if the need for abortion were lessened... better birth control, better sex ed, that sort of thing. But we're not currently suffering from a dearth of children, and I do not think children are well off for being raised by people who can't take care of them them. Abortion is infinitely preferable to infanticide or a lifetime of abuse/poverty. I do, however, put a completely arbitrary line around the sixth or seventh month. I know it's arbitrary, but the line has to be drawn SOMEWHERE, or we'd be no better than the Greeks and Romans who waited until after birth, and then didn't even have the decency to do it fast. And up to birth seems a little TOO iffy for me, thanks.
9. Harry Potter
Way overhyped. So are most popular things. I mean, they're good books, but they're just not THAT good. And, thick as they are, Rowling could certainly afford to do a little character development, especially on people like Snape, or the twins... or anybody other than Harry, really.
10. The Atkins Diet
This is going to kill way more people than the previous low-fat diets, merely because SOMEbody will be driven homicidal, and fast. Listen, people. First, you need both fat AND carbs to survive. The way to lose weight is to exercise and to eat less of ALL sorts of food. Second, there's about a million Atkins-approved foods to eat that won't clog your arteries. Yeah, arteries? Your heart? The entire friggin' circulatory system? Yeah, that's important. Health isn't only (or even primarily) about how much you weigh.
1. Gay rights
I'd like to say I'm for them, but what I'm really for is human rights applied to all people equally. Saying "I support gay rights" sets you up to be attacked by the sillies who claim you're trying to get something special for gay people, which I'm not. The right to marry may not be a human right (after all, not all societies have marriage), but it is a legal right that should be extended to everybody, and yes, that means to gay couples. NOT to gay men who marry gay women so that they can get married. Who comes UP with this crap?
2. Otherkin
I'll be honest, I think the whole idea sounds silly. I think a lot of things sound silly, and this goes for the vast majority of beliefs. Since there is no way to prove you're wrong, and it's completely harmless to everyone, I don't care.
3. Religion
See otherkin. The only difference here is that some people have done horrible things in the name of religion. That's not just silly, that's wrong. However, I don't think it's inherant in religion that you go out and kill nonbelievers. Some people just need an excuse....
4. Lactation
Somebody on my friends list called this icky. I'm not going to argue (amazing!) because I agree. It IS icky. However, I still eat cheese, which comes from a much filthier animal than the average human, and which has rotten solid. I also think that sex is icky, and any food item which I've seen other people handling. Lots of things are icky. That's not very important in the grand scheme of things. Weirdly, I don't find menstruation icky at all. Just uncomfortable.
5. Children
Love 'em. Honestly. Never gonna have kids, though, because I only love them when I don't have to deal with them, and I really value what's left of my sanity.
6. Bush
He's not the president. He's stupid. He's crazy. His linguistic difficulties, though, are probably not caused by his stupidity, and I do wish people would stop insinuating that they are. Let's stick to the real issues, okay? Ad hominems aren't just disgusting when they attack the people with whom you agree.
That's all for now. I may or may not update my list.
7. Death penalty
Against it, on both practical and ethical grounds. Until we perfect telepathy, and can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our judgments are infallible, I can't pretend to support it. Even if we could read minds, I still would not support it because I suspect it would still be unfairly meted out. And, even if we fixed all these problems, I would STILL argue that 1. it's a poor punishment 2. it's not very effective and 3. killing people is wrong, no matter the justification.
8. Abortion
Well, I would prefer it if the need for abortion were lessened... better birth control, better sex ed, that sort of thing. But we're not currently suffering from a dearth of children, and I do not think children are well off for being raised by people who can't take care of them them. Abortion is infinitely preferable to infanticide or a lifetime of abuse/poverty. I do, however, put a completely arbitrary line around the sixth or seventh month. I know it's arbitrary, but the line has to be drawn SOMEWHERE, or we'd be no better than the Greeks and Romans who waited until after birth, and then didn't even have the decency to do it fast. And up to birth seems a little TOO iffy for me, thanks.
9. Harry Potter
Way overhyped. So are most popular things. I mean, they're good books, but they're just not THAT good. And, thick as they are, Rowling could certainly afford to do a little character development, especially on people like Snape, or the twins... or anybody other than Harry, really.
10. The Atkins Diet
This is going to kill way more people than the previous low-fat diets, merely because SOMEbody will be driven homicidal, and fast. Listen, people. First, you need both fat AND carbs to survive. The way to lose weight is to exercise and to eat less of ALL sorts of food. Second, there's about a million Atkins-approved foods to eat that won't clog your arteries. Yeah, arteries? Your heart? The entire friggin' circulatory system? Yeah, that's important. Health isn't only (or even primarily) about how much you weigh.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 09:58 pm (UTC)As for "many religions ARE silly", that goes for just about every religion, to everybody except the faithful. I choose to say that it's only the outside of the religion that's silly. The faith and the good things that people get from it aren't silly, and there's no telling that silly means untrue.
2. Aw. *hugs again* Bitter is bad. Hm. Should I send you a gallon of bubblestuff? That's not much, but it tends to cheer ME up.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-16 12:04 am (UTC)