I'm not sure why the following hasn't been seriously considered or discussed, but there seems to me to be a clear solution to this whole same sex marriage issue. Make marriage a religious ceremony/bond between people who the particular church allows to be married, which in the vast majority of churches is a man and a woman. Call it marriage, finis. All non-religious ceremonies are, by definition, civil unions, whether between a man and a woman, woman and woman, or man and man. Both marriage and civil unions by law need to have the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities.
Let's look at this from a couple of perspectives. If I'm a proponent of gay marriage, I get a union with exactly the same rights as a couple who is married today. If a church recognizes that gays can be joined in their church, then they can be married in that church as a marriage. If I'm someone who believes that marriage is strictly between a man and a woman, gays or lesbians would not be married in my church but joined by a civil official in a civil union. What if a man and a woman are joined outside the church? Most likely they are not very religious so it makes sense that they have equal status but not so in the eyes of the church. Church and state are separate but equal (one of the few instances were it works).
My proposal doesn't force any church or religion to modify their beliefs or practices. It allows same sex couples to form equivalent unions outside a religion. Other than hate or seeking to control others, why wouldn't this work?
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
New Ways of Thinking
Remember when those bumperstickers started coming out, "Think Globally, Act Locally"? I still like it's simplicity and, of course, the message. There is a continuing dance between the momentum of society and the acts of individuals. Can the individual make a difference? If the answer is no, it's a gloomy world indeed. Certain individuals can make their mark by inventing things or leading a cause; the rest of us tend to jump on the next bandwagon. Can we make a difference if were not Einsteins or Kings?
What made me think more about this was the minor, yet telling, issue during the recent Presidential campaign when Barrack Obama suggested that Americans can make a difference combating high gas prices by ensuring their tires are properly inflated. The McCain camp made some fun of the remark. I'm wondering if it was for political expediency or if they really think that this was a silly suggestion? The power of many individuals doing their own 'thing' ends up making a significant difference and, in this case, can save millions of gallons of gas each year, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, lower carbon footprints, and hopefully increase the momentum towards alternate fueled vehicles. If the old guard was really dismissing this idea (and probably others like it), then does this point out a shift between old thinking and newer thinking? In the last few years, we are understanding how small events can have larger, global impacts such as global warming. Not everything has to be a Manhattan or Apollo project. By many individuals doing their part, we can institute change just as well or better than the 'revolution' method in many situations. It'll be interesting to see what methods of change will work on huge problems like global warming that are extremely complex. Perhaps a combination of small, evolving changes and a few large, revolutionary ones will be required.
The old way of thinking, as demonstrated by the Republican camp, needs to come around to reflect the rapidly changing, complex world in which we live. Perhaps it's driven by existing money and power or by a lack of intellectual flexibility, but we need to quickly shift away from the old way of looking at things to solving today's problems with fresh perspectives and ideas.
What made me think more about this was the minor, yet telling, issue during the recent Presidential campaign when Barrack Obama suggested that Americans can make a difference combating high gas prices by ensuring their tires are properly inflated. The McCain camp made some fun of the remark. I'm wondering if it was for political expediency or if they really think that this was a silly suggestion? The power of many individuals doing their own 'thing' ends up making a significant difference and, in this case, can save millions of gallons of gas each year, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, lower carbon footprints, and hopefully increase the momentum towards alternate fueled vehicles. If the old guard was really dismissing this idea (and probably others like it), then does this point out a shift between old thinking and newer thinking? In the last few years, we are understanding how small events can have larger, global impacts such as global warming. Not everything has to be a Manhattan or Apollo project. By many individuals doing their part, we can institute change just as well or better than the 'revolution' method in many situations. It'll be interesting to see what methods of change will work on huge problems like global warming that are extremely complex. Perhaps a combination of small, evolving changes and a few large, revolutionary ones will be required.
The old way of thinking, as demonstrated by the Republican camp, needs to come around to reflect the rapidly changing, complex world in which we live. Perhaps it's driven by existing money and power or by a lack of intellectual flexibility, but we need to quickly shift away from the old way of looking at things to solving today's problems with fresh perspectives and ideas.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Space is Still Significant
Just returned from the STS-126 launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and before we got there, I had no idea what it would be like. Well, maybe a small idea as I attended one of the early launches back on college spring break and I was situated way out with all the other space geek slobs. We could barely see anything but luckily next to us was a van with a ton of telescopic and photographic equipment. Let's say that for a couple of beers we got to see some good closeups before the launch. That launch was exiting because the Shuttle was still very new and humans were starting to get back into space on a routine basis. Between then and this weekend, I spent several years at NASA and its contractors, went on to the dot.com/bust and other things, got married and had a son, lived through two STS accidents, and now 25 or so years later, finally got to witness a launch closeup at the Banana Creek viewing site courtesy of my sister-in-law, a Spaceflight Awareness award winner (!).
Two major impressions. First, this was a perfect one to view because it was night, the weather was pleasant, and there were just enough light clouds to witness a spectacular event. When the Shuttle got close to the cloud cover, fast concentric multi-colored ripples appeared in the clouds, like a stone hitting a pond but much more. Then the clouds parted as the Shuttle pierced through what was left of them. Very cool. The next thing that impressed me was the shear quantity of enthusiasts at this event. Maybe because it was one of the last (or maybe last) night launch, there were a ton of people and the drive back on the Shoreline towards Orlando was brutal. It took us three hours (normally one) and my wife and her sister award winner five hours on a chartered bus (lousy driver). I was heartened by the numbers and all types of people, young and old, geek to chic. Being in that type of a traffic jam was preferable to my normal ones.
Perhaps there are enough of us interested to keep pushing forward. After this experience and the X Prize Cup I attended two years ago in New Mexico, I'm heartened. My son, now 15, is considering aersopace engineering like his father and aunt. I think it's time to get back into the aerospace business. With the Constellation program (back to Moon and on to Mars) and private spaceflight starting up, there's no time like now to get involved. I'm getting psyched once again, like when I saw Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon.
Two major impressions. First, this was a perfect one to view because it was night, the weather was pleasant, and there were just enough light clouds to witness a spectacular event. When the Shuttle got close to the cloud cover, fast concentric multi-colored ripples appeared in the clouds, like a stone hitting a pond but much more. Then the clouds parted as the Shuttle pierced through what was left of them. Very cool. The next thing that impressed me was the shear quantity of enthusiasts at this event. Maybe because it was one of the last (or maybe last) night launch, there were a ton of people and the drive back on the Shoreline towards Orlando was brutal. It took us three hours (normally one) and my wife and her sister award winner five hours on a chartered bus (lousy driver). I was heartened by the numbers and all types of people, young and old, geek to chic. Being in that type of a traffic jam was preferable to my normal ones.
Perhaps there are enough of us interested to keep pushing forward. After this experience and the X Prize Cup I attended two years ago in New Mexico, I'm heartened. My son, now 15, is considering aersopace engineering like his father and aunt. I think it's time to get back into the aerospace business. With the Constellation program (back to Moon and on to Mars) and private spaceflight starting up, there's no time like now to get involved. I'm getting psyched once again, like when I saw Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon.
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