Homosexuality in America

Gay marriage is an increasingly prominent issue as some states accept it and others remain steadfast and reject it. The acceptance of gays in our society is also a large issued shown through movies and culture. I have 2 arguments, one religious(Christian)* and the other ethical, that are in favor of gays being accepted in America.

1. Nowhere in the bible* does it condemn those with attractions to the same sex. In Leviticus, it states the law that intercourse between two of the same sex is forbidden. I find this an acceptable law, because sex is a gift from God and is to be used only for the sake of reproduction, hence no pre-marital sex is allowed either in the laws of Leviticus. However, disgracing this gift God gave to us, sex between two people of the same sex is a problem.
2. Also, if we were to attack gays for being unethical, why don't attack other issues, such as pre-marital sex, which causes more problems with abortions and STD's. It is not right to only attack certain issues that can be easily targeted.

Conclusion: While I believe Gay sex is wrong, I also think that gays should be allowed the same freedom as straights and should be allowed to marry. Americans, especially Christians, should follow Jesus's example and compassionately reach out to the gay community and explain why celibacy is an important part of Gay life, instead of trying to force our way and alienate them. This misuse of God's gift is the true tragedy here, not whether gays marry or not.

Note: Many people believe that homosexuality is a product of nurture. While I believe some people, especially in those in the limelight, experiment and are bisexual, I think nearly all of homosexuality is nature.
*Also, anyone who can find any more passages from the bible or any other religious book that might shine light on the issue, please comment and let it be known.

How Politicians take advantage of 'hot-button' issues

In the last election, religious and moral issues, like abortion and gay-marriage, played an important role in how many people voted. Abortion especially had split the public. While I am against abortion and believe it is wrong in nearly all circumstances, I did not support George Bush, the pro-life candidate. Although anti-abortion was one of his platforms, the only anti-abortion action of his presidency came in 2003 when he signed the partial-birth abortion ban after it was passed by the senate and representatives. According to an Alan Guttmacher Institute Voluntary Poll, .17%(2,232 of 1,313,000) of abortions in 2000 were partial-birth, however, being a voluntary poll, their numbers may be close, but not exact. In addition, 28 states had already banned partial-birth abortion, making this bill not very important.
I am not trying to tear President Bush down, but instead show how politicians take advantage of 'hot button' issues. He did not outline any plan for eliminating abortion. If abortion was illegal, there would be huge surge in births and/or illegal abortions that the nation would be unprepared for. Many politicians do not have solid plans for issues and simply state their opinion for them. Americans need to recognize this problem and not waste their vote on somebody with empty promises.

"Scooter" Libby's 'Get out of Jail free' Card

President George Bush recently partially commuted Scooter Libby's 30 month jail sentence for 5 felony counts. A former White House Aide, Libby leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, whose husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson, had denounced the war.
The Editorial Sections of newspapers around the country were filled with columns either calling for Libby's imprisonment or justifying the president's actions. The argument soon swelled into democrats struggling to declare victory over republicans and republicans clamoring to hold them off. Stuck in between party lines, the average American should be outraged. This commutation of Libby's sentence illustrates how the pardon has been misconstrued and misused.
Introduced in the Constitution, the original intent was to forgive people who had acted against the U.S. and subsequently quell those angry about the event, like Washington's pardon of those in the whiskey rebellion. In the present era, Ford's pardon of Nixon and Clinton's many last day pardons of supporters show how this nation has forgotten why there is a pardon. The pardon of today is simply another example of corruption in politics and the special privileges the politically elite receive. So neither the democrats nor the republicans should be angry. The American man and woman should be angry.
In conclusion, the presidential pardon should be amended to enforce its original intent or it should be eliminated

The Forum

This is the first posting for the forum. The forum is an exchange of ideas, opinions, and insight of cultural, political, religous, and moral origin that relates to the international audience and your next-door neighbors. Anyone can comment on the forum, because even bad ideas spur on the creation of newer and better ideas. I will start slow and then take it from there, making a post every couple of days.