The reason the left has gone after same-sex marriage is because it\u2019s a two-fer. When you redefine marriage, you cheapen marriage. You make it into something less valuable, less special \u2026 [and] it is a sure bet that will undermine faith.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As a someone who identifies on “the left,” let me just say that you are a dolt.<\/p>\n
I am a person of faith. \u00a0Granted, I’m Episcopalian, and you know how those <\/em>people are … but I still consider myself a Christian, a believer in God, and someone who tries to follow the teachings of Christ as I understand them. \u00a0I have no desire to force my faith on others, but I am not antagonistic toward folks for their faith, even where I might disagree with where it takes them. \u00a0I believe that, as long as it doesn’t harm those around them, people should be free to exercise their faith.<\/p>\nSo, for example, I think people who believe that marriage is morally right (and blessed by God) between two people of the same gender should be allowed to live that faith without those of other faith beliefs wielding the power of Caesar to stop them.<\/p>\n
I’m a big believer in marriage, too. \u00a0I think it’s a keen institution. I’m married, myself, to a wonderful woman, and that legal (and moral) bond is a hugely important part of my life.<\/p>\n
I do believe that society is strengthened by marriage (though I don’t believe folks should be forced to marry, any more than they should be forced into any legal contract or religious oath). \u00a0I believe the cheapening of marriage into a simple transaction of convenience and social advantage (see: any number of Hollywood celebrities and Washington politicians) is, indeed, a societal problem — it, in your words, “cheapens” marriage, makes it into “something less valuable, less special.” \u00a0It’s not a problem that I believe lends itself to legal fixes (making divorce significantly more difficult, for example); it’s a cultural issue that is best approached culturally — influencing hearts and minds, not compelling bodies. Sort of like, y’know, how Jesus tried to tell His good news.<\/p>\n
To summarize, then, I am a person of faith. And I’m a married person who believes the institution of marriage is special and valuable.<\/p>\n
So where the hell do you come off, Senator, saying that I’m part of some vast conspiracy of “the left” out to undermine faith and to cheapen marriage?<\/em><\/p>\nNow, granted, you don’t think “marriage” should, by light of your faith (I presume you are sincere in this), include same-gender couples. \u00a0I disagree, but, then, we probably \u00a0disagree on a number of theological issues. \u00a0I would certainly never suggest that you be compelled to marry someone of the same gender, Senator. \u00a0Nor would I suggest that your church be compelled to give its spiritual blessing to anyone it thinks are not worthy of it — whether because of gender, or race, or criminal background, or age, or whatever. \u00a0That’s between you, your church, and God.<\/p>\n
But marriage is not simply a religious sacrament. \u00a0It’s also a civil procedure. \u00a0People can get married without any sort of churchly blessing, and have for ages. Your interpretation of the Old Testament or the epistles of Paul as to what God approves of regarding homosexuality have nothing to do with what the county clerk or justice of the peace (or legal recognition of common law marriages) can or should be doing, any more than those governmental and legal institutions have a say in other sacraments, such as baptism.<\/p>\n
To me, two consenting adults who choose to bind themselves as partners before society, obligating themselves to “love, honor, and cherish” each other in such a formal way, whether blessed in a church of their choosing or not, deserve to be recognized as married by the law. \u00a0That’s not “redefining marriage” — that’s recognizing that the definition of marriage is more than what plumbing the individuals involve sport, or what they do in bed (if anything) with said plumbing.<\/p>\n
I don’t know about you, Senator, but while the marriage bed is a lot of fun, it’s not the main reason why I got, or remain, married.<\/p>\n
Now, I’m sure, based on what you say, you don’t approve of gays getting married. \u00a0Well, to be honest, Senator, there are a number of folks who get married whose marriages I<\/em> don’t approve of — and yet, remarkably, I don’t choose to try and prevent them doing so by force of law, simply based on my disapproval. \u00a0Why do you think you <\/em>should get that privilege?<\/p>\nI don’t expect this to change your mind, Senator, even on the off chance you read it. \u00a0If nothing else, this is an election year, you’re vying for President, and dropping your anti-gay appeal to your “base” amongst the citizenry would be politically inconvenient.<\/p>\n
But I did feel the need, on the record, to disagree with your little quip about “the left” going for a “two-fer” against marriage and against faith. \u00a0I’m sure it draws chuckle, or applause, or donations. \u00a0But it’s insulting and, worse, simply wrong, and obviously so. \u00a0To make such an argument would thus require, I’d think, either a brazen ability to lie through your teeth in order to garner money and votes, or a willful ignorance of why people support gay marriage as part of (not a “redefinition” of) the institution of marriage.<\/p>\n
I will be charitable and assume it’s the latter, Sen. Santorum. \u00a0Which makes you, instead of a lying dog, merely a dolt.<\/p>\n
Regards,<\/p>\n
***Dave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Senator Santorum: In Iowa, the other day, you made the following statement to a GOP dinner crowd: The reason the left has gone after same-sex marriage is because it\u2019s a two-fer. When you redefine marriage, you cheapen marriage. You make it into something less valuable, less special \u2026 [and] it is a sure bet … Continue reading “Dear Senator Santorum: You are a dolt”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[100,25,14,718,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dolts","category-gay-stuff","category-love-and-marriage","category-marriage-equality","category-religion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/wedding-rings2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":135983,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/03\/26\/rick-santorum-dolt.html","url_meta":{"origin":21367,"position":0},"title":"Rick Santorum Is a Dolt","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 26-Mar-18 8:20am","format":false,"excerpt":"I would never suggest kids shouldn't learn CPR, but that's beside the point. It's not an either\/or, of course, any more than \"petition for a stop light at that dangerous intersection\" and \"learn defensive driving\" are a binary choice. And the suggestion that collective political action is useless, and in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/rick-santorum.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26242,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/09\/rick-santorum-has-a-persecution-chip-on-shoulder.html","url_meta":{"origin":21367,"position":1},"title":"Rick Santorum has a persecution chip on shoulder","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 9-Feb-12 11:34am","format":false,"excerpt":"Worse yet, he thinks it's a cross.Hey, Rick -- the guillotine was not used just to execute people of faith. Also, it was not used because revolutionary France was godless. And mass executions \/ killings of people in France (and elsewhere) predated the French Revolution (just ask the Huguenots).Dolt. #ddtbReshared\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26018,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/04\/rick-santorum-is-a-dolt-special-privileges-for-me-not-for-thee-edition.html","url_meta":{"origin":21367,"position":2},"title":"Rick Santorum is a Dolt (Special Privileges for Me, Not for Thee Edition)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 4-Feb-12 2:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Rick, hi. \u00a0I've been trying to avoid taking you to task for your doltitude for a while now, hoping you'd slip back into your richly deserved obscurity (since it's pretty clear at this point that even the GOP primary voters aren't extreme enough to pick you as their candidate, thank\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Church & State"","block_context":{"text":"Church & State","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/church-state"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ricksantorum.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25139,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/01\/05\/why-is-rick-santorum-so-obsessed-about-polygamy.html","url_meta":{"origin":21367,"position":3},"title":"Why is Rick Santorum so obsessed about polygamy?","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 5-Jan-12 6:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Actually, it's not just Rick -- it's a standard slipperty-slope meme on the Social Conservative Right that gay marriage will lead to legalized polygamy, thence (as Rick is more famous for suggesting) to bestiality and, even, a single-payer medical care system.But the argument always seems to start with polygamy, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27074,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/03\/13\/thank-you-rick-for-clarifying-matters.html","url_meta":{"origin":21367,"position":4},"title":"Thank you, Rick, for clarifying matters","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 13-Mar-12 7:23am","format":false,"excerpt":"Every time I get ticked off at Romney being a favorite of Wall Street, of K Street Lobbyists, or anything else like that, all I have to do is see what Rick Santorum has said on that day and it makes it crystal clear that he's by far the more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":394,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/04\/23\/foot_in_head_di.html","url_meta":{"origin":21367,"position":5},"title":"Foot in head disease","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 23-Apr-03 3:49pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I was going to write a long screed about Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum's recent blithering about gay rights and the impending doom of civilization, but -- well, Doyce stole a...","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46592,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21367\/revisions\/46592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/wedding-rings2-300x225.jpg\" "\\"wedding")
Dear Senator Santorum:<\/p>\n