A Conservative's Defense of Gay Marriage

Growing up I held the belief that gay marriage was wrong and although civil unions were fine marriage was between a man and a woman.  Recently, I have come to the understanding that love and the right to be with the one you love are not only freedoms everyone should share, but they are a right and necessity to human relationships.  In the Declaration of Independence it says "...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." To me, a huge part of my happiness, and perhaps the most important aspect to my happiness, is my relationship with my husband, Andrew, and I firmly believe that all humans beings have the right to pursue this happiness.

I consider myself a spiritual individual and take my relationship with that spirituality very seriously, even if I don't consider myself the church-going type.  My belief in a creator and the idea of a higher being shape many aspects of my life, from my art to my morals and values. I believe that a loving god would never create a situation that would deny his creations the right to find happiness, and that those who find love and happiness with people of the same sex should be afforded the same rights and benefits as those who love people of the opposite sex. 

As I said in the title, I consider myself a conservative and believe that the government should be as limited as possible in most things. My husband and I have talked a lot on this issue and have determined that this is one of the pressing issues for our generation of citizens and that many of the conservatives in the younger generation differ on this issue from the current, older generation.  He and I believe it is our place to make a difference. In my opinion, the government has no place in determining who you can and can not marry. Many people say that if that is the case than people should be allowed to marry a dog, but to that I say that we are not talking about animals, we are talking about human beings. No one is suggesting allowing people to marry animals, just that the oppression of this group of human beings civil rights be ended.  

With the family unit being increasingly weakened, it is time to focus on families and encourage stable relationships.  Let us work toward making stronger families and loving homes for the many children in this world.  The future is our children and how can we ever look at ourselves with pride if we continue to suppress human, god given, rights.  How do we face the next generation when we continue to allow human beings to be denied love, happiness, and family, the very essence of what it means to be human?

9, A Review of the 2009 Animated Film

I recently watched the animated film 9, directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton. Like many of the films Burton has worked on, 9 has a dark plot. Shane Acker is not a director I am familiar with, but he does a wonderful job in creating a touching story of a time after humans and the continuation of intelligent life.

Humanity no longer holds any place on Earth, and has long ago perished in a war against technology.  The only life that remains are 9 creations that are artificially intelligent. The origin of these creations is unknown in the beginning of the story, which follows one of these creations, known only as 9, in his quest to better understand the world and his place in it.

This movie is dark, but also deals with very deep, serious issues and has many touching moments. The only problem is the movie lacks a target audience, and it is probably because of this that I hadn't heard of it until I picked it up in a Walmart $5.00 bin. Because of its dark themes, it is not really geared toward children, but the fact that it is animated may cause it to be passed over by adults, even thought it is actually an enjoyable watch. Its main audience is primarily Tim Burton fans or fans of Tim Burton-like films, such as Coraline.

All in all, this movie is worth a night's watch, and will leave you contemplating some of the many issues expressed in 9, whether or not you watch animation often or not.