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Jeff Foster
Los Angeles, CA
Recent Activity
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Jeff commented on the article |Free speech, except when it's inconvenient for you? Shirvell's activities are wrong and tasteless, but they're protected by the First Amendment.
I'm shocked that so many people here would taint freedom of speech just to have this guy legally disciplined. I'm not saying Shirvell isn't wrong and despicable, but I'm not about to have a knee-jerk, emotional reaction to something like this that results in tainted freedom of expression for everybody.
If liberals get to start banning speech and arresting people for offending them, be prepared for conservatives to do it too - a vicious back-and-forth until the whole country is under the repressive grip of complete speech censorship.
Everyone just needs to calm down and stop looking to the criminal justice system to rid the streets of anyone who makes them uncomfortable. Can you imagine what a witch hunt it would become if you could suddenly arrest anyone who publicly disparaged homosexuality? Remember McCarthy? How would you like it if your strong opinions about something could land you in jail just because they're in line with the present mainstream sentiment?
It may be hard to wrap your mind around it, but people like Shirvell believe that homosexuality is a sin just as fervently as we believe it's normal. If you start taking action to supress the other side, you deserve to have yours supressed too. If you claim moral superiority as a justification - well, that's what they do too.
The worst thing about this attitude is that arresting this guy wouldn't even do anything to help the overall fight. All it would do is piss off the anti-gay crowd and give them greater resolve. They're not going to say, "Being anti-gay is illegal now. I guess I should stop."
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Jeff commented on the article |Good health news is always nice, but I don't think making the world a marginally safer place is always a good justification for freedom-infringing laws.
A ban on all sports might reduce athletic injuries. Closing the beaches to the public would reduce shark attack deaths. Those advantages don't mean those ideas are good for a free society.
A non-smoker, I've always been against tobacco control laws because they get government involved in regulating private behavior and foster the same kind of vision of the role of government used to justify things like banning gay marriage and abortion.
We have to choose the size and scope of government. Liberals and conservatives both bring a mixed bag to the table on this issue, and it's always hypcritical. Everyone just wants government to regulate the behavior of people they don't understand, but to leave them alone on the issues they care about.
Liberals say, "Keep government out of our bedrooms!" when it comes to abortion, but "Put everyone on the state plan!" in regards to health care.
Conservatives say, "Don't tread on me!" on the issue of gun rights, but "Break down their doors!" of people who choose to use recreational drugs.
The bottom line is that being alive is risky. We don't need a massive power structure to punish people who fall away from mainstream sensibilities in their lifestyle choices.
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Jeff commented on the article |Queer Families against Gay Marriage is not trying to make the point that married homosexuals become politically complacent at all. Not at all.
They are frustrated by the fact that the movement makes that implication and don't want gays to make implcit promises that they'll shut up if they have marriage rights.
I think it's awesome to see a thinking, libertarian-minded gay rights organization out there as opposed to the mainstream, government-expanding marriage rights movement.. I've been making the exact same point for years. The government has no business "certifying" love relationships and it's a huge overstretch of government authority to be in the business of marriage in the first place. Marriage should be a social institution, not a legal one. Even as it is, if a gay couple considers themselves married, they are married to me, and if a straight couple considers themselves married without a state document, it's just as legitimate in my eyes as it would be if they had the stupid "license."
Don't add gay marriage to the already-outrageous list of government intrusions. Eliminate straight marriage and give a little piece of culture back to the people.
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Jeff recruited camille to sign the petition |
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Jeff signed the petition | -
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Jeff started the petition |
Impact
5 Actions
2 Recruits
Top Causes
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Organizations
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NORML Foundation1 Action 0 Recruits -
HEALTHCARE-NOW1 Action 0 Recruits
