Monday, December 06, 2004
okay, seriously... can any right-wingers really stand to listen to this show for more than 10 seconds?
So, yes, today I got another right wing call. I was talking about why I was considering not playing any holiday songs this year, and I mentioned being angry at religion for getting Dubya re-elected. So, after I got off the air, a caller asked me why I'm "angry at the religion of Hanukkah". And I told him that I guess I'm more angry at Christianity because it was more responsible for the unfortunate outcome of the election. But guess what... he was a Dubya fan! Yes, a right wing Jew listened to my show today. (I wish I had left wing Jews listen to my show. Like Dana from the Smittens. Or Mirah. That would be so cool if they listened to my show.) Anyway, he said something about admiring Bush and what he's done for our nation in respects to social policy. So, in answer to that, I had to mention homosexuality. So, he said the usual rhetoric about protecting marriage, but then he brought up an interesting point. It was a variation of the domino theory (if you redefine marriage to allow gays to marry, then you can't discriminate and you have to allow everyone else to marry). What he did was ask me if a consensual relationship between a father and an adult child should be considered marriage. Now that's a conundrum. When it comes to the domino theory, I can easily give reasons for discounting bestiality (animals can't give informed consent) and polygamy (the economic implications are too difficult to deal with). But incest is trouble for the secularist. So, when he asked me what I thought about that, I said that I didn't know.
A couple people have mentioned genetic defects from inbreeding. That's actually a rhetorical trap. If you say that genetic defects in offspring are a reason for denial of marriage, you pretty much admit that marriage is meant for procreative purposes. However, someone in addition said that such marriages could be allowed if the spouses are sterilized. That's also trouble, though. At that point, you're saying that you believe in eugenics. You probably want to avoid saying that. That takes the conversation into different territory. Very crafty.
So, this brings up a dilemma. Either, you find another objective, non-religious reason for rejecting incestual marriage, or you admit that it's okay. Of course, admitting that it's okay is trouble. Is it just me, or is the stigma attached to inbreeding stronger than the negative feelings people have for homosexuality? If you say that inbreeding is okay, people will stop taking you seriously and lose all respect for your arguments.
I guess I have to figure out another scientific reason why consensual relationships between family members are bad. Can anyone think of any?
And at some point in the conversation, I said something about the alliance between right wing Christians and Jews, how Christians are supporting Israel because they want Israel to fulfill its role in bringing about the events foretold in Revelations. He just said something about it being good that Christians and Jews are getting along and that it's good to support Israel because it's the only democracy in the Middle East. I just said that I hope Iraq becomes a democracy, too. Which I do. I certainly don't want it to be a totalitarian Muslim state.
Anyway, because of that, I dedicated "The Palestianians Are Not the Same Thing as the Rebel Alliance, Jackass" by Atom and His Package to him. I don't know if he heard it.
He was actually nice throughout the whole conversation and said he was enjoying the show. He also said something about being able to be right wing and listen to "far out music" at the same time.
I'm not sure how much programming he's listened to before on the station. ^_^
In other news, I got notification that the Cwistmas Twee comp was put in the mail today. That should mean that I'll get it before next week's show. YAY!
That's it for now. I hope you liked that 14 Year Old Girls interview that I played today and that it was enjoyable even without the visual component.
So, yes, today I got another right wing call. I was talking about why I was considering not playing any holiday songs this year, and I mentioned being angry at religion for getting Dubya re-elected. So, after I got off the air, a caller asked me why I'm "angry at the religion of Hanukkah". And I told him that I guess I'm more angry at Christianity because it was more responsible for the unfortunate outcome of the election. But guess what... he was a Dubya fan! Yes, a right wing Jew listened to my show today. (I wish I had left wing Jews listen to my show. Like Dana from the Smittens. Or Mirah. That would be so cool if they listened to my show.) Anyway, he said something about admiring Bush and what he's done for our nation in respects to social policy. So, in answer to that, I had to mention homosexuality. So, he said the usual rhetoric about protecting marriage, but then he brought up an interesting point. It was a variation of the domino theory (if you redefine marriage to allow gays to marry, then you can't discriminate and you have to allow everyone else to marry). What he did was ask me if a consensual relationship between a father and an adult child should be considered marriage. Now that's a conundrum. When it comes to the domino theory, I can easily give reasons for discounting bestiality (animals can't give informed consent) and polygamy (the economic implications are too difficult to deal with). But incest is trouble for the secularist. So, when he asked me what I thought about that, I said that I didn't know.
A couple people have mentioned genetic defects from inbreeding. That's actually a rhetorical trap. If you say that genetic defects in offspring are a reason for denial of marriage, you pretty much admit that marriage is meant for procreative purposes. However, someone in addition said that such marriages could be allowed if the spouses are sterilized. That's also trouble, though. At that point, you're saying that you believe in eugenics. You probably want to avoid saying that. That takes the conversation into different territory. Very crafty.
So, this brings up a dilemma. Either, you find another objective, non-religious reason for rejecting incestual marriage, or you admit that it's okay. Of course, admitting that it's okay is trouble. Is it just me, or is the stigma attached to inbreeding stronger than the negative feelings people have for homosexuality? If you say that inbreeding is okay, people will stop taking you seriously and lose all respect for your arguments.
I guess I have to figure out another scientific reason why consensual relationships between family members are bad. Can anyone think of any?
And at some point in the conversation, I said something about the alliance between right wing Christians and Jews, how Christians are supporting Israel because they want Israel to fulfill its role in bringing about the events foretold in Revelations. He just said something about it being good that Christians and Jews are getting along and that it's good to support Israel because it's the only democracy in the Middle East. I just said that I hope Iraq becomes a democracy, too. Which I do. I certainly don't want it to be a totalitarian Muslim state.
Anyway, because of that, I dedicated "The Palestianians Are Not the Same Thing as the Rebel Alliance, Jackass" by Atom and His Package to him. I don't know if he heard it.
He was actually nice throughout the whole conversation and said he was enjoying the show. He also said something about being able to be right wing and listen to "far out music" at the same time.
I'm not sure how much programming he's listened to before on the station. ^_^
In other news, I got notification that the Cwistmas Twee comp was put in the mail today. That should mean that I'll get it before next week's show. YAY!
That's it for now. I hope you liked that 14 Year Old Girls interview that I played today and that it was enjoyable even without the visual component.
