How to respond to this:

Hey everyone, so in the spirit of equality and supporting homosexual marriage I recently shared this picture on facebook:

Sorry I don't know how to re-size this.

Anyway, my brother had this to say:

"This really is a strawman falacy becuase (most of) those who are against homosexual marriage are also against infidelity, pornography, "no-fault" divorce (or irreconcilable differences), and excessive spending. So really, (most of) the people who are against homosexual marriage would also be against the actions listed above.

Also, (most of, or maybe just many of) the people against homosexual marriage realize that it is not homosexual marriage that destroys the institution of marriage, but it is immoral (sinful) lives that destroy marriage. To many of these people, marriage is not a government or civil institution, it is a physical representation of a spiritual truth. Marriage is the symbol of God's love and desired relationship with humans. Since God ordained marriage, many people expect marriage to be congruent to what God deems correct.

There are other politcal, sociological, scientific, and philosophical reasons to disfavor homosexual marriage, but ultimately they take a back seat to the spiritual reason." (Oh and then his wife "liked" the comment he left)

As you can guess I really want respond to this but I have no idea what to say without sounding like an asshole (don't know why I bother considering) and I don't want to just delete the comment or ignore it because I feel like that would be somehow admitting defeat or something. So what do you think?

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Permalink Reply by kOrsan on March 28, 2013 at 8:05am

So in short he didn't have anything to say.

"Marriage is spiritual" makes him sound like a child.

He might want to look up the history of marriage in different cultures.

Your last post would take some time to debate, and I have no intention of carrying on such a long discussion here.

Hah, admission of defeat. As I told you in the chat, the funny thing to do would be to just continue posting random goody shit that makes fun of his homophobic ass and not even respond to him. You're going the right way!

You could upload some of the pictures here.

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Permalink Reply by Kairan Nierde on March 28, 2013 at 11:34am

Is your brother slow?

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Permalink Reply by Judith van der Roos on March 28, 2013 at 10:31am

We could add to this, at least here in the Netherlands, that homosexual couples adopt the unwanted and unloved children of hetro relationships at a rate more an double hetro married couples. We are just over three times more likely to adopt a child with a disability or chronic illness that has been discarded by a hetro couple than married hetro couples. We also currently have a lower divorce rate than hetro couples though personally i think that this figure will even up in time.
Regards,
Judith vd R.

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Permalink Reply by Dr.Grixis on March 28, 2013 at 11:45am

"Wilhelmus van Nassauwe, ben ik van Duytsen Bloed, Homo's en Lesbos doen het bij ons best wel goed!"

Sorry, couldn't help myself.... misplaced patriotism I guess. I do love the idea that people can overcome the hatred and bigotry within society and proof to the world what they are, regardless of the incessant bitching and complaining about "the gays".

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Permalink Reply by Real Life James Bond on March 28, 2013 at 1:16pm

Tell him that homosexuality happens in nature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals) It is actually quite common. Also ask him if he knows the history of marriage. Generally people who claim this don't know what they are talking about. Marriage is not a religious thing. It was used to make peace between feuding families and to expand the empire of a far more powerful family. There were other uses as well, but lets focus on these two. Marriage is not a social institution any more. It has evolved from that. Before religion hijacked marriage it was more of a kind of treaty between two feuding parties (that doesn't really happen any more so that's thrown out the window). Marriage today is (meant to be at least) a loving (and sometimes financial) bond between two people who love each other. If a gay married family are harder workers, raise more successful kids, and are better citizens why shouldn't they be allowed to get married? What is the social damage in them getting married? If your brother says because then everyone wants to do it, swiftly call him an idiot and ask if he would want to marry another man simply because someone else did it.

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Permalink Reply by Strega on March 28, 2013 at 5:03pm

Honestly Amanda? Anyone can throw a tantrum or have a hissy fit. It takes a lot more maturity to put together thoughtful and concise arguments the way you are doing. Insults are two a penny. Debating with factual rather than emotional perspective is clearly a skill you possess and it is a pleasure to have you share that here :)

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Permalink Reply by SteveInCO on March 28, 2013 at 8:48pm

It is worse than talking to a brick wall because at I feel like a wall would be more responsive.

Actually the brick wall is less responsive but your evaluation is correct; the brick wall is better because at least it's not rewarding your efforts to communicate with a gigantic crock of fresh steaming bullshit. Some types of responsiveness are worse than nothing.

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Permalink Reply by Mabel on March 28, 2013 at 10:22pm

Yes please. I would like to watch the posts. I will send you a friend request. My name is Lori. Thanks. I love Facebook fights lol.

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Permalink Reply by Strega on March 28, 2013 at 10:25pm

Hey Amanda, can you post a link to your facebook page? I seem to be finding Markovich's everywhere but no Mrakovich. You're welcome to send it to me in PM if you prefer :)

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Permalink Reply by Strega on March 28, 2013 at 10:44pm

It's me that needs fixing. I sent you a PM :)

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Permalink Reply by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on March 28, 2013 at 11:11pm

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Permalink Reply by Aiken Drums Sister on March 29, 2013 at 2:06am

In the US, at its core, marriage is civil - a construct of secular government. Some people include religious ornamentation in their marriage ceremonies, but the thing that makes them married is the civil paperwork they have to fill out. You and I could call ourselves married, and have all sorts of religious authorities involved, and it would mean nothing unless we filled out the paperwork. Popes, witch-doctors, shamans, all might call us married, but we're not filling out that "married, filing jointly" tax return without notifying the state that we're married.

Just because your brother is against porn, infidelity, no-fault divorce, etc. doesn't mean he's any more pro-marriage than a gay person who wants to get married. He's just pro-my-type-of-marriage. "You can't join the club because you're gay", is really his argument. He's playing the part of an elitist who can say, "Well, I'm special, because I'm a married man and you... you can't even get married, Hah!" It's a very thin thing to hang your worth on, but he's going to clutch onto it as long as he can.

I don't know where he gets the "excessive spending" thing. That's the cornerstone of capitalism. Why does he hate America?

By the way, you and I COULD get married...I'm free this weekend...I can cook and .. well, just putting it out there...I look kind of like Andrew McCarthy but without the charisma or charm...