Tom Hanks and poor thinking.
I just quickly want to share an example of flawed thinking and how to respond. Here is a news item I came across. It is about one of my favorite actors, Tom Hanks. He is anti Prop 8. In California Proposition 8 defines marriage to mean a union between one man and one woman. Tom Hanks is against this.
Tom Hanks, Executive Producer for HBO's controversial polygamist series "Big Love," made his feelings toward the Mormon Church's involvement in California's Prop 8 (which prohibits gay marriage) very clear at the show's premiere party on Wednesday night.At first blush this seems reasonable. No one wants to see discrimination made into law, right? Here is what I would ask Mr. Hanks if he were to say this to me. I would ask if he would like to remove laws about pedophilia. He does not want to see any discrimination in law right? Then why does he want to discriminate against pedophiles? And if that is his personal belief system, then why is he forcing it on others? Isn't that un-American? What about people who want to have multiple wives, or multiple husbands? Do you want to discriminate against them too, Mr. Hanks? How about people who want to marry their pets? Or marry their brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, dead people, imaginary people. Where does it end, Mr. Hanks? How can you as an American discriminate against these people who just want to express love in their own, special way? And you with your puritan beliefs want to force your morality on them? Shame on you! Being famous does not make your right. It merely gives you a larger audience to spew your stupidity to. The fact is he and most people are against many of these things such as making pedophilia, or say making marriage between an adult and a child legal. Why? Because some acts are wrong. He will have a difficult time explaining why some acts are wrong. In ethics it is called the grounding problem, but he would arbitrarily justify his assertions. My point is, don't let the straw man of discrimination throw you off. Discrimination is a matter of morality that protects us, our family, and our country. In a simple nutshell, homosexual marriage does not grow our country like a marriage between a man and a woman. Therefore it ought not to get special government protection. If gays want to marry, I have no desire to stop them. If they want special tax credit, sorry, no. That is reserved for a unique and special class of marriage that can add citizens to this country in an environment that is healthy for children. Science has demonstrated that a mother and a father of non-related blood lines, joined together in marriage, is the basis for healthy children. Nothing else. |