Didn't take long for this one...

Earlier today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against the United Stated Government on the Constitutionality of The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Historically speaking, marriage has been defined as between one man and one woman. The federal government grants over 200 separate privileges to married couples, from real estate and property rights, healthcare decision making, tax breaks and other similar benefits. Massachusetts is the first to file suit contesting the constitutionality of DOMA. I predicted this would happen shortly after California's Prop 8 decision.

In contemporary times, we have seen a harsh battle between the Religious Right and the Liberal Left on the issue of gay marriage. Leviticus vs 1 Corinthians 13. How can a book so disputed and yes, controversial be actually used in thie debate? Yes, I am aware that God "created" Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. We are bringing religious bias into a question of equal or not. Now, DOMA does not provide for a religious interpretation, not does it use any type of religious citation in its text. This is not and cannot be approached as a Religious Freedoms/Separation of Church and State question. This must be viewed in a context of Equal Protection.

As section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution states "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Many of you could argue that this does not deprive life, liberty or property. It's just marriage...is it not? What's next? As some comments on Yahoo's discussion boards tonight have suggested, gays should be killed, gays should stop protesting, gays should never be teachers. Come on folks! This are real people, just like you and me. To deny them any rights on the basis of their sexual orientation is just wrong. The way I see it, either abolish all tax breaks and legal rights for married couples, or recognize and ALLOW gay marriage to happen.

Going along the logic of my fire and brimstone counterparts, I guess all of the antiabortion protesters need to stop "pushing their agenda". Even as a medical professional, I find the images of a dead fetus disturbing. Especially when I'm returning home on a Sunday morning from getting a newspaper and a cup of coffee...seriously, did I really need to see an enlarged picture of a dead fetus with "Babies Killed Here" on a picket sign in front of my local hospital? This is about COMMON SENSE. It's a good read too, I think Thomas Paine had a good start...

As I hinted at in my Separate but Equal post in June, it is my firm belief that Brown v Board's decision has been reversed, and that separate, in the minds of the religious right, is indeed equal. This has become an argument that will inevitably become a David vs Goliath affair (pun intended). We have failed to love our fellow man, our fellow man is "not created equal", and we sure as hell don't seem to have unalienable rights.

Yes, this may be a bit liberal for many of you to stomach, and frankly, I welcome commentary on this. I ask for CIVILITY and MATURITY. Calling someone a "fuckhead" because they don't think the same way you do will not be tolerated.

So, everyone, what's the next step? Is this one step forward, or two steps back? Will equality or religiosity reign?

Change...a hell of a lot harder than I thought...

Contrary to popular belief, this has nothing to do with the Obama Administration. This is yet another personal series of thoughts.

OK, I get that the economy sucks. I get that I'm frustrated in a lot of aspects of life, but seriously? When is it going to change? Outside of not doing anything about it, there's isn't a whole lot of things I haven't tried in order to alleviate certain situations in my life.

Job: Let me be totally honest. I enjoy about 75% of the people I work with. I dislike working way too much. Yes, I know you're going to tell me to stop working so much. I like knowing that I have a stable job. I dislike the lack of intellectual challenge and debate. It's as if I'm a robot, and I'm really not liking this.

Love: Yeah, right...like that's ever going to happen. I'm excited for the wedding I'm going to this weekend, but not excited to be a single guy at said wedding. More could be said, but I'm not getting too personal here...

I think I have a nice laundry list of things I'd like to vent here, but in the interest of not having it come back and bite me in the ass later, I'll stop here.

Sigh.

Yes I've turned off comments on this one. Not looking for input, just looking to semi-vent.