Category: Philosophy
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Argentina Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
by Jason Stotts Yesterday, Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage: [The new law] gives same-sex couples equal marriage rights, including the ability to adopt children. The law was backed by the center-left government of President Cristina Kirchner, who has said she will sign it. [CNN] Congrats to all of the…
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Recent Important News Stories
by Jason Stotts With crashing OCON, work, and a long essay I’m working on now, I’ve been rather remiss in blogging. Unfortunately, this means that I missed the chance to discuss several really important news stories, so I’m going to remedy that here and condense them all into one post. 1. DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional A…
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Holidays: Altruism’s Corruption of the Holy
by Jason Stotts Some time ago, I met a young woman by the name the name of Julia. After getting to know her, I was surprised to find that the Fourth of July was her favorite holiday, since I had never heard anyone identify the Fourth as their favorite holiday. It’s not that I’m surprised…
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Christians Lose Again
by Jason Stotts In another Supreme Court ruling, Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, 08-1371, SCOTUS ruled that a christian group cannot bar gays from being members if it receives public funding. The AP report (from SFGate) notes Justice Stevens: …was even harsher, saying while the Constitution “may protect CLS’s discriminatory practices off campus, it does…
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Victory for Individual Rights!
by Jason Stotts The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) today handed down their judgment in the Macdonald v. Chicago case (08-1521). The Justices ruled 5-4 that the second amendment is incorporated against the states through the fourteenth amendment. I haven’t read the complete decision yet, since it is quite long and was only…
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Harrison Bergeron
by Jason Stotts I was recently sent a link to the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, about the ideal of “equality” and the practical implications of that. I strongly recommend taking a look at the story, which you can find here. THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only…
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Voting
by Jason Stotts I voted in California today for the second time, the first being in the last election in the fall. Both times have been at a local church, which is gracious enough (I’m being ironic) to host the voting. The problem with having voting in a church is that you end up with…
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Interracial Marriage at All Time High
by Jason Stotts CNN is reporting that interracial marriage has hit an all time high and that today roughly 1 out of 7 marriages are interracial. Apparently, race is mattering less these days, say researchers at the Pew Research Center, who report that nearly one out of seven new marriages in the U.S. is interracial or…