Why This Lifelong Jewish Liberal is Voting Republican
When I pull the lever on November 2nd for George Bush, I will be voting with more passionate conviction than I have ever mustered in a lifetime of voting Democratic.
My motive is simple: I believe the moral imperative of our time is to fully prosecute the War on Terror. As a Jew, I believe this sacred fight embodies the deepest Jewish values, so eloquently expressed by the ancient sage Hillel: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
Let me explain.
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” How do we make sense of the violence engulfing our world since September 11th? We reel from one barbaric slaughter to the next, unable to understand the horrors unfolding in front of our eyes: office workers jumping from burning buildings in New York, school children shot in the back in Russia, families exploding in pizza parlors and busses and seder tables in Israel. What unites these disparate acts of terror? Who is the enemy we face?
The phrase, “War on Terror,” studiously avoids naming our foe. Some have proposed calling this fight the War on Radical Islam or the War on Islamo-Fascism. I suggest the term the War on Islamic Terror for what binds together these acts is a religiously-inspired frenzy to destroy. Fueled by the fiery theology of jihad, or global holy war, the terrorists define every non-Muslim, including women and children, as enemy combatants who must be annihilated. They seek no compromise or negotiation. They seek our death.
We therefore face an existential challenge: Do we have the right to exist? Does our civilization merit continuing? Do we claim our freedom? On the most basic, inescapable level, as Rabbi Hillel asked us 2,000 years ago, are we for ourselves?
If we answer yes, we must answer with our actions. No one will stand with us if we do not stand for ourselves. We must commit to a long, difficult battle that will inevitably encounter agonizing setbacks along the way to victory. This fight will assume many guises as we seek to deter, disarm, and demolish the shifting forces intent on our murder. We will disrupt and weaken free-floating terror groups like Al Qaeda and Islamic Jihad. We will depose incorrigible terror masters like Saddam Hussein, who lobbed Scud missiles into Israel, publicly conferred fat checks on the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, and invited Abbu Abbas, the murderer of the wheelchair-bound American Jew, Leon Klinghoffer, to live out his days as an honored pensioner in Baghdad. And we will deny nuclear capabilities to the mad mullahs of Iran, whose Defense Minister this week vowed to “crush America” and “wipe Israel off the map.”
The task may be complex, but the morality is straightforward. We believe that both our lives and our way of life are worth preserving. And although we carry the heavy burden of protecting liberty, our steps are lightened by the rewards of meeting Hillel’s second challenge.
But if I am only for myself, what am I?” On October 9th, Afghanistan conducted the first one-person, one-vote democratic election in its history. Out of 10 million eligible Afghanis, an astonishing 9.9 million registered to vote for president, including the former king. 42% of the registered voters are women. Under the Taliban, Afghani women were prisoners in their homes, many literally starving to death. Today Afghani women compete in the Olympics, attend Kabul University, and open craft-based businesses, while their daughters constitute one-third of the 4 million Afghani children enrolled in school. 2,200 child soldiers have been demobilized; platoons of ex-combatants are being trained to build and maintain roads; electrification is spreading throughout the country, and the famous Buddhist statues destroyed by the Taliban are being reconstructed. And in an overwhelming sign of optimism, 3 million Afghani refugees have returned from Pakistan and Iran, eager to rebuild their lives in their newly-freed homeland.
In a country successively tormented by Soviet occupation, civil war, and the Taliban’s brutal theocracy, hope is alive. Democracy is being born. Human dignity is taking root.
These inspiring developments are no accident: They have been purchased with American blood, sweat and treasure, and those of our allies, and they reflect our truest national character. With every illiterate adult taught to read, every young girl heading off to school for the first time, every boy trained to earn a living, we prove our deepest desire is to spread the blessings of freedom.
In Iraq, too, our painfully hard work of implanting democracy is proceeding. (You won’t find full portraits of either country’s progress in The New York Times or on CBS. Read for the bigger picture.) Sovereignty has been passed from the American-led Coalition Authority to the Iraqis, who are now preparing for nation-wide free and democratic elections in January. Meanwhile, on a local level, democracy is springing up through newly-elected town councils. Ahood Aabass, the first woman elected to the new governing council in Basra, reports that under Saddam, children went to schools without windows, doors and toilets, and the local water had worms. Now she praises the “great strides” that have been made in education, human rights, health care and the infrastructure. 20 million Iraqis now enjoy clean water and improved sanitation. Schools have been renovated and reopened. 159,000 new school desks have been distributed, millions of new textbooks have been printed, thousands of children have been vaccinated, and teachers now make between $300 and $500 a month, instead of the $3 they were paid by Saddam. The new Iraq Stock Exchange is now open for business (ISX) and commercial ties are increasing between Iraq, Europe and Japan. A newly-accessible internet is allowing Iraqis to openly exchange ideas, and a free press is flourishing.
A country once brutalized by a sadistic dictator who filled its earth with mass graves, tortured its dissidents, raped its women, and starved its children, is striving mightily to transform into a prosperous democracy. American resolve has let freedom reign.
"If not now, when?” Senator Kerry has decried “the rush to war,” stating that America “has lost its moral authority” because we overthrew Saddam without a sufficient number of allies. 34 countries joined us in our military endeavor there; Senator Kerry preferred to wait until we secured the co-operation of France, which means we would still be waiting today.
If we went to Iraq too early to please Senator Kerry, we are now lingering too long for his taste. Dismayed by the hopeless “quagmire” he perceives, he has declared his intention to bring our troops home as soon as possible, preferably in six months.
Too early, too late: It’s never quite the right time to do battle on Senator Kerry’s calendar. There is always another ally to consult, resolution to be passed, conference to be convened, process to be perfected, obstacle to be avoided.
And yet history has appointed the hour of our challenge, and however much we wish to turn back time, our moment has come. When the World Trade Center was attacked the first time in 1993, we chose to ignore the true seriousness of its implications. But on September 11th, 2001, with the Pentagon in flames, the World Trade Center collapsing, and a hijacked plane speeding towards Congress, we finally began our generation’s rendezvous with destiny.
“You can not escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today,” said President Lincoln at another decisive moment in our nation’s history. The War on Islamic Terror must be waged fully, humanely, and successfully. This monumental battle is both our burden and our privilege, for as Thomas Paine said when our country was born, “If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”
On November 2nd, I will choose to honor my heritage as a Jew and as an American by voting for George Bush.
2004-10-18
Jewish Liberals for Bush
I previously posted a link to this excellent piece, but I think it's worth presenting here in its entirety. The author prefers to remain anonymous, but it was originally posted by Judith on The Command Post. The writer invokes a famous proverb by Rabbi Hillel (Pirkei Avot 1:14) in explaining her decision to break a lifelong habit of Democratic voting by supporting President Bush in this year's election.
Melissa Etheridge update
Melissa Etheridge (yes, she who inspired the title of this blog) is recovering from cancer surgery. She is to begin chemotherapy next; however, her prognosis is very good. Melissa plans to continue recording as well as spending time with her wife Tammy and kids. Please take a moment to leave her a message (requires registration) and visit her homepage.
Let's blogroll!
Big Pharaoh takes on Friedman. Egyptian blogger GM responds to Thomas L. Friedman's column on American's supposed "addiction" to 9/11. Read it here.
The Head Heeb wins the award for "Best Post Title of the Week" for his damning review of "The Passion".
And speaking of movies, screenwriter Roger L. Simon posts his rave review of "Team America" here. Also find out more about the sinister conspiracy between Roger L. Simon and Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs. Look for a fedora and a Hawaiian print shirt ...
FOR what? Michele at A Small Victory has a blistering response to the self-serving idiots of the Iraq Photo Project. This post is an excellent reference for those who might have missed the past year's worth of Iraqi blogs.
Imshin takes a break from the stresses of life in Israel and shares some beautiful photos of her country - which, some claim, does not exist.
Juliette is finding her own country - Southern California - a little less beautiful lately, but is counting her blessings nevertheless. (Hey J, don't forget the next line: "But it pours, oh man it pours.")
The Head Heeb wins the award for "Best Post Title of the Week" for his damning review of "The Passion".
And speaking of movies, screenwriter Roger L. Simon posts his rave review of "Team America" here. Also find out more about the sinister conspiracy between Roger L. Simon and Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs. Look for a fedora and a Hawaiian print shirt ...
FOR what? Michele at A Small Victory has a blistering response to the self-serving idiots of the Iraq Photo Project. This post is an excellent reference for those who might have missed the past year's worth of Iraqi blogs.
Imshin takes a break from the stresses of life in Israel and shares some beautiful photos of her country - which, some claim, does not exist.
Juliette is finding her own country - Southern California - a little less beautiful lately, but is counting her blessings nevertheless. (Hey J, don't forget the next line: "But it pours, oh man it pours.")
2004-10-17
The Unfeeling Left
The Unfeeling Left: A Response to E. L. Doctorow
E. L. Doctorow: The Unfeeling President
E. L. Doctorow did not stand atop the still-smoldering grave of nearly 3,000 Americans and address the nation.
The Left ridiculed President Bush for showing emotion at the site of the World Trade Center. How typical. It was the Left, after all, which defended the genocide of Saddam Hussein; which defended the sadistic misogyny of the Taliban; and which continues to worship the false messiah of the United Nations.
Doctorow, secure in his position as a cultured, sophisticated man of letters, decides that he can read the President's mind. Good for him. Doctorow indulges his own righteous eloquence by shedding crocodile tears for my comrades, but remains silent on the hundreds of thousands of people massacred, raped, and tortured under the fascisms of our generation. And this man sets himself up as a voice of conscience?
Right now, even as you and I sit here comfortably looking at our computer screens, the turbaned mafiosi in Tehran are racing to build a nuclear weapon in order to destroy Israel and threaten thousands of Americans and millions of Arabs. Think what it would mean for them to succeed: they want to make Tel Aviv and Jerusalem look like Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They will not stop for the United Nations - they've already made that abundantly clear. They will only be stopped by force - the kind of pre-emptive war that Doctorow associates with the Neanderthals.
Right now, Iraq and Afghanistan are preparing to hold democratic elections and are taking the first steps - painful steps, to be sure - toward a future of freedom and prosperity. This is happening because of people like President Bush; and it is happening in spite of people like E. L. Doctorow.
Right now, Iranians are rioting against their fascist regime - almost certainly with covert support from the United States. G-d willing, they will succeed in their goal of overthrowing the ayatollahs and establishing a free and democratic state in their homeland. If our Government chooses to help them in this courageous struggle, it will be in part because they know such a policy will enjoy popular support - in part because of citizen efforts like the Iran Regime Change Petition.
Doctorow is partially right - and only partially - about one thing: "The President we get is the country we get." I am confident that, by November, the American people will see the wisdom of electing the brave and compassionate President Bush, and not the duplicitous, cowardly John Kerry.
But contrary to Doctorow, the President does not single-handedly form our national consciousness. Typical of today's Left is the fantasy that America is a dictatorship; this nonsense can be believed only by people who know nothing of real dictatorships - and who care nothing for those who live under them.
This piece of rubbish perfectly illustrates why I have nothing but contempt for the contemporary Left, and precious little respect for most of today's "intellectuals".
E. L. Doctorow: The Unfeeling President
E. L. Doctorow did not stand atop the still-smoldering grave of nearly 3,000 Americans and address the nation.
The Left ridiculed President Bush for showing emotion at the site of the World Trade Center. How typical. It was the Left, after all, which defended the genocide of Saddam Hussein; which defended the sadistic misogyny of the Taliban; and which continues to worship the false messiah of the United Nations.
Doctorow, secure in his position as a cultured, sophisticated man of letters, decides that he can read the President's mind. Good for him. Doctorow indulges his own righteous eloquence by shedding crocodile tears for my comrades, but remains silent on the hundreds of thousands of people massacred, raped, and tortured under the fascisms of our generation. And this man sets himself up as a voice of conscience?
Right now, even as you and I sit here comfortably looking at our computer screens, the turbaned mafiosi in Tehran are racing to build a nuclear weapon in order to destroy Israel and threaten thousands of Americans and millions of Arabs. Think what it would mean for them to succeed: they want to make Tel Aviv and Jerusalem look like Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They will not stop for the United Nations - they've already made that abundantly clear. They will only be stopped by force - the kind of pre-emptive war that Doctorow associates with the Neanderthals.
Right now, Iraq and Afghanistan are preparing to hold democratic elections and are taking the first steps - painful steps, to be sure - toward a future of freedom and prosperity. This is happening because of people like President Bush; and it is happening in spite of people like E. L. Doctorow.
Right now, Iranians are rioting against their fascist regime - almost certainly with covert support from the United States. G-d willing, they will succeed in their goal of overthrowing the ayatollahs and establishing a free and democratic state in their homeland. If our Government chooses to help them in this courageous struggle, it will be in part because they know such a policy will enjoy popular support - in part because of citizen efforts like the Iran Regime Change Petition.
Doctorow is partially right - and only partially - about one thing: "The President we get is the country we get." I am confident that, by November, the American people will see the wisdom of electing the brave and compassionate President Bush, and not the duplicitous, cowardly John Kerry.
But contrary to Doctorow, the President does not single-handedly form our national consciousness. Typical of today's Left is the fantasy that America is a dictatorship; this nonsense can be believed only by people who know nothing of real dictatorships - and who care nothing for those who live under them.
This piece of rubbish perfectly illustrates why I have nothing but contempt for the contemporary Left, and precious little respect for most of today's "intellectuals".
America's Addiction
Addicted to Freedom: A Response to Thomas Friedman.
Thomas Friedman: Addicted to 9/11
Actually, President Bush's supporters include a wide spectrum of people of all ideological persuasions, precisely because President Bush has correctly understood the war on terrorism and on fascism as the central issue of our time.
Many people on both sides of the environmental, social, and economic issues - including those like myself who strongly disagree with the President about many of these things - realize that these political conversations are secondary to the threats facing both America and the free world. In fact, one of the most positive changes I've experienced in the past three years has been the chance to learn about, and better understand, those whose views are different from my own. It's been my observation that many other Americans have had a similar experience. Sad indeed that it took the tragedy of September 11 to bring us to this place; but the fact that it is happening speaks well of both America and its leadership.
A wedge between America and the rest of the world? No. It is a wedge between those who support and defend the sadistic fascism of the Taliban, Saddam Hussein, the Iranian regime, and their ilk; and freedom-loving nations like America, India, Britain, Australia, Israel, and free Iraq. Drive that wedge deep, and drive it with a sledge hammer.
"Bush only seems able to express our anger, not our hopes," Friedman's source claims. But President Bush expressed my own hopes quite eloquently at the Azores summit when he said:
Friedman carefully sidesteps the success of the Iraq campaign, complaining that there "weren't enough troops on the ground" - as if, had the operation been conducted with adequate troops, complaints about American "heavy-handedness" wouldn't have been even louder. In fact, he would prefer that you didn't know about organizations like the Iraq-America Freedom Alliance and people like Alaa of The Mesopotamian and the Fadhil Brothers of the Iraq the Model.
Like many well-informed liberals of good conscience, Friedman is uneasy with Kerry. And with good reason: Iranian freedom activists are uneasy with him too. What Friedman doesn't explain is how America, under any Presidential administration, will "put terrorism back into perspective" without making some difficult, demanding, and sometimes unpopular decisions.
President Bush understands this, and that's why he sees terrorism as more than a "nuisance". And most Americans understand this, too, and that is exactly why - as Mr. Friedman rightly suggests - many of us have indeed adopted a "7/4 mentality" the year round. We are not addicted to September 11. We are addicted to freedom.
See also this analysis from Big Pharaoh:
Big Pharaoh on Thomas Friedman
Thomas Friedman: Addicted to 9/11
Actually, President Bush's supporters include a wide spectrum of people of all ideological persuasions, precisely because President Bush has correctly understood the war on terrorism and on fascism as the central issue of our time.
Many people on both sides of the environmental, social, and economic issues - including those like myself who strongly disagree with the President about many of these things - realize that these political conversations are secondary to the threats facing both America and the free world. In fact, one of the most positive changes I've experienced in the past three years has been the chance to learn about, and better understand, those whose views are different from my own. It's been my observation that many other Americans have had a similar experience. Sad indeed that it took the tragedy of September 11 to bring us to this place; but the fact that it is happening speaks well of both America and its leadership.
A wedge between America and the rest of the world? No. It is a wedge between those who support and defend the sadistic fascism of the Taliban, Saddam Hussein, the Iranian regime, and their ilk; and freedom-loving nations like America, India, Britain, Australia, Israel, and free Iraq. Drive that wedge deep, and drive it with a sledge hammer.
"Bush only seems able to express our anger, not our hopes," Friedman's source claims. But President Bush expressed my own hopes quite eloquently at the Azores summit when he said:
Action to remove the threat from Iraq would also allow the Iraqi people to build a better future for their society. And Iraq's liberation would be the beginning, not the end, of our commitment to its people. We will supply humanitarian relief, bring economic sanctions to a swift close, and work for the long-term recovery of Iraq's economy. We'll make sure that Iraq's natural resources are used for the benefit of their owners, the Iraqi people.
Iraq has the potential to be a great nation. Iraq's people are skilled and educated. We'll push as quickly as possible for an Iraqi interim authority to draw upon the talents of Iraq's people to rebuild their nation. We're committed to the goal of a unified Iraq, with democratic institutions of which members of all ethnic and religious groups are treated with dignity and respect.
Friedman carefully sidesteps the success of the Iraq campaign, complaining that there "weren't enough troops on the ground" - as if, had the operation been conducted with adequate troops, complaints about American "heavy-handedness" wouldn't have been even louder. In fact, he would prefer that you didn't know about organizations like the Iraq-America Freedom Alliance and people like Alaa of The Mesopotamian and the Fadhil Brothers of the Iraq the Model.
Like many well-informed liberals of good conscience, Friedman is uneasy with Kerry. And with good reason: Iranian freedom activists are uneasy with him too. What Friedman doesn't explain is how America, under any Presidential administration, will "put terrorism back into perspective" without making some difficult, demanding, and sometimes unpopular decisions.
President Bush understands this, and that's why he sees terrorism as more than a "nuisance". And most Americans understand this, too, and that is exactly why - as Mr. Friedman rightly suggests - many of us have indeed adopted a "7/4 mentality" the year round. We are not addicted to September 11. We are addicted to freedom.
See also this analysis from Big Pharaoh:
Big Pharaoh on Thomas Friedman
2004-10-15
Best of Dreams Into Lightning
BEST OF DREAMS INTO LIGHTNING: Selected Posts Since April 21, 2004 CE
Celebrating six lunar months with Rosh Hodesh Heshvan (on the Jewish Calendar), this blog is pleased to present another best-of collection.
And wishing a blessed Ramadan to Muslim readers.
WOMEN AND POWER: Gender, politics, and the price of empowerment – responsibility.
Women and Power
But Can She Vote?
Iran in Transition?
Gender and Sexuality
IRAN
Iran Regime Change Petition
And Iran...
THE L WORD: Liberalism in crisis.
Berman: Another Peace Movement
An Infinite Supply of Arab Murderers
The Moral Struggle
ORIGINAL FICTION
The Rose of Paradise
The Death Wish
SPIRITUALITY
The World of Tomorrow
The Kabbalah: complete series
Like a Persian: Madonna and Esther
Vashti and Freedom
I Am a Jew and My Father Was a Jew
WORDS TO LIVE BY
Faith
Celebrating six lunar months with Rosh Hodesh Heshvan (on the Jewish Calendar), this blog is pleased to present another best-of collection.
And wishing a blessed Ramadan to Muslim readers.
WOMEN AND POWER: Gender, politics, and the price of empowerment – responsibility.
Women and Power
But Can She Vote?
Iran in Transition?
Gender and Sexuality
IRAN
Iran Regime Change Petition
And Iran...
THE L WORD: Liberalism in crisis.
Berman: Another Peace Movement
An Infinite Supply of Arab Murderers
The Moral Struggle
ORIGINAL FICTION
The Rose of Paradise
The Death Wish
SPIRITUALITY
The World of Tomorrow
The Kabbalah: complete series
Like a Persian: Madonna and Esther
Vashti and Freedom
I Am a Jew and My Father Was a Jew
WORDS TO LIVE BY
Faith
Where Wings Take Dream
If you'll look QUICKLY at the bottom of my right-hand sidebar, you might still see that the TTLB Ecosystem has promoted me to "Flappy Bird"! Well, I'm just chirping with joy. I zoomed RIGHT PAST the Reptile stage this time around ...
Of course I know this particular evolutionary burst is probably just an artifact of having been rotated to the top of the Blogs For Bush list, so I'm currently linked on a bunch of blogs that don't even know I exist. But still. I'm enjoying it while it lasts.
It feels good to be soaring among the higher realms of the blognoscenti, even if it's just for a little while.
Of course I know this particular evolutionary burst is probably just an artifact of having been rotated to the top of the Blogs For Bush list, so I'm currently linked on a bunch of blogs that don't even know I exist. But still. I'm enjoying it while it lasts.
It feels good to be soaring among the higher realms of the blognoscenti, even if it's just for a little while.
Morning Report: October 15, 2004
Fallujah offensive begins. US forces have no more time to chit-chat with Fallujah negotiator Khaled al-Jumeili and have arrested him, as American warplanes begin airstrikes in the current Fallujah offensive. 'Targets hit included several key planning centers, a weapons storage facility, two safe houses, a meeting site and several illegal checkpoints used by the al-Zarqawi network, the U.S. military said.' (AP via Fox)
2004-10-14
Regime to Execute 13-year-old Incest Victim
Bulletin from Free Iran. Having allegedly become pregnant by her 15-year-old brother, a thirteen-year-old Iranian girl by the name of Zhila (her last name has not been released), currently jailed in the city of Marivan, has been sentenced to death by stoning in the Islamic Republic. The date set for her execution is unknown. No other information is available.
http://web.peykeiran.com/net_iran/irnewsbody.aspx?ID=19209
Free Iran: Incest Victim to Die
http://web.peykeiran.com/net_iran/irnewsbody.aspx?ID=19209
Free Iran: Incest Victim to Die
Iraq Accuses Iranian Embassy of Assassinations
Latest news from Blog Iran:
Read the whole article at the link: Blog Iran: Iraq Accuses Iran Embassy
(Source: AFP via Blog Iran)
Iraq's national intelligence chief Mohammed al-Shahwani has accused Iran's Baghdad embassy of masterminding an assassination campaign that has seen 18 intelligence agents killed since mid-September. Shahwani told AFP a series of raids on three Iranian "safe houses" in Baghdad on September 29 had uncovered a treasure trove of documents linking Iran to plots to kill members of the intelligence service and using the Badr former militia of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq's (SCIRI) as its tool.
SCIRI has vigourously denied the allegations and counter-charged that the intelligence service is full of veterans of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's military who are now renewing their vendetta against former Shiite resistance groups based out of Iran in the 1980s.
Since mid-September, 18 Iraqi intelligence agents have been killed in Iraq, 10 of them by the Badr organisation on orders from Iran and the rest by Al-Qaeda-linked foreign militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, Shahwani charged.
"Badr and Zarqawi have assassinated 18 of my men," Shahwani said from his heavily-guarded villa in central Baghdad.
Shahwani confirmed that two of his intelligence agents were beheaded by Zarqawi's Unity and Holy War group, as seen in a video released by the fighters on Wednesday.
The intelligence chief said he suspected Tehran was funding Zarqawi, but lacked conclusive proof.
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's government has escalated its rhetoric against Iran in recent days, accusing the neighbouring Islamic republic of running a campaign of sabotage in Iraq.
But Shahwani's claims of huge caches of documents seized in the September raids are the most explicit charges to date against Iran and the first time an Iraqi party has been publicly named as Tehran's proxy.
Read the whole article at the link: Blog Iran: Iraq Accuses Iran Embassy
(Source: AFP via Blog Iran)
Six Iranian Bloggers Arrested
News item from the BBC:
BBC: Iran blog crackdown
hat tip: Little Green Footballs
Six online journalists and webloggers have been arrested in Iran recently in a crackdown on dissent on the internet.
"People charged for having illegal internet sites... will be put on trial soon," said a judiciary spokesman.
The trials would be "open" and charges included "acting against national security, disturbing the public mind and insulting sanctities".
Web journals flourish in Iran where the youthful, reform-hungry population has gone online for news and entertainment.
The popularity of the internet has grown as hardline judges closed about 100 printed publications since 2000.
Journalists and relatives quoted by Reuters named the six people arrested as Shahram Rafizadeh, Babak Ghafouri-Azar, Rouzbeh Amir-Ebrahimi, Hanif Mazroui, Omid Memarian and Mostafa Derayati.
BBC: Iran blog crackdown
hat tip: Little Green Footballs
Oregon's Amendment 36 Seeks to Bar Gay Marriage
Oregonians will vote on Constitutional Amendment 36 this year, a bill which would write discrimination into the State's constitution. By defining marriage as "between one man and one woman", the amendment would hurt lesbian and gay couples and provide no measurable benefit to any Oregonian.
It is natural that people will disagree about gay marriage; but the social and religious conservatives who do not recognize gay marriage should not abrogate other people's rights to enter into contractual relationships. Amendment 36 is also a violation of the religious liberties of those churches and religious organizations which do recognize the sanctity of a gay couple's bond.
Social conservatives argue that marriage is a sacred rite. To the extent that this is true, then, it is the province of the churches, synagogues, and mosques. But marriage is also a legal contract; and to the extent that it is that, no religious sect or group has the right to deny access to that contract to its fellow citizens.
Oregonians, vote NO ON 36.
NoOn36.com
It is natural that people will disagree about gay marriage; but the social and religious conservatives who do not recognize gay marriage should not abrogate other people's rights to enter into contractual relationships. Amendment 36 is also a violation of the religious liberties of those churches and religious organizations which do recognize the sanctity of a gay couple's bond.
Social conservatives argue that marriage is a sacred rite. To the extent that this is true, then, it is the province of the churches, synagogues, and mosques. But marriage is also a legal contract; and to the extent that it is that, no religious sect or group has the right to deny access to that contract to its fellow citizens.
Oregonians, vote NO ON 36.
NoOn36.com
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