End of June Extravaganza

Another month is drawing to a close so as usual it’s time to wrap things up and look back at the month.

The Big Issue: Same Sex Marriage

Earlier in the month I wrote a post about Same Sex Marriage, furious that there is so much opposition to it. That post performed very well and may well go on to be one of my most read posts ever. Naturally people wanted to share their views on it too…

Susan: Amen. Says the not religious girl to the criticism of gay marriage by religions. I can't believe the Church of England has vocally opposed gay marriage! I find that absurd. But in some strange way I find it comforting that this isn't just an American phenomenon. The rest of the world is messed up, too!

Lewis: I agree that that institutions have the right to make these categories by which they recognise people i.e marriage. But just as they have the right to exclude certain people from being part of their group, everyone else has the right to think less of them for discriminating against these vulnerable minorities. The church leaves out and ignores all the other stuff about slavery and racism in exodus, so why not the discrimination against gay people. I know the church does a lot of good in the world but it's shortcomings need to be addressed and I think this is one of them.

Those were the main comments which agreed with me. I did have to edit that second one a bit so it wasn’t too long but the point is still in there.

Louise: I think that civil partnerships should come with all the same legal rights etc. as marriage however I don't think the actual term 'marriage' should be used. This isn't because I think they shouldn't be able to be together, it's because the term 'marriage' means being joined together in the sight of God and in essentials the bible and the Christian faith don't agree with homosexuality. People tend to live together and sleep together before marriage now anyway and so I feel that the value of marriage is no longer in finally being able to live and sleep together after months or years of waiting during engagement but rather that the value of marriage lies in declaring before God your wish to be joined together in holy matrimony.

Yes, long I know but I couldn’t cut anything out. The disturbing bit is “the Christian faith don’t agree with homosexuality”. I think Lewis’ comment above says everything there is to say about that. Interestingly though is the view of what marriage means. I agree that it’s no longer about being able to sleep together but disagree with what the value of marriage is now. Millions of people get married every year who are not religious so surely it can’t mean that? I see marriage as two-fold: the main thing is declaring to the other person that they are the person you love and want to spend the rest of your life with. The minor thing is the legal status it gives giving your partner rights they might not have without being married. And those two things are things that gay people should be allowed to have as much as everyone else. 

I’d still welcome further views on this if you want to throw any thoughts my way please do. Just be polite.

Comments: Best of the Rest

Susan [on Prometheus]: I really like the movie, and I appreciated that the director, writers, and producers did not spell everything out for us. I felt like I understood the big picture elements at play with the subtle suggestions given, and I thought it enhanced my experience as a viewer. Thought the CGI was subtle--doubt it will look as aged in a few years as some sci-fi contemporary movies

I agree with all that. I’m really surprised that Prometheus has got such terrible reviews from people. Perhaps it’s now the modern way that we can’t just let a movie follow-up to a big series be good. I really liked Prometheus and controversial as this might seem, I actually think it’s better than the original Alien. It’s not up there with Aliens but Prometheus is an awesome film. If you’ve been put off by critics, ignore them and go and see it.

Jennifer [on Dear 15 Year Old Me]: I love that you advised yourself to get into comic books. I'm about to turn 28 and I'm just now getting hooked on a few graphic novels. If you're at all interested in vampires or Stephen King, American Vampire is a brilliant series. Thanks for participating in 20SB's Blog Carnival!

Oh blimey, don’t suggest more comics/graphic novels to me! It’s turning into more and more of an obsession. Plus it works in a weird way that some weeks I get none whereas others I get loads of comics. I think I’ve got about eight that are currently on their way to my house so I’ll be busy comic reading next week!

Shelly [On Dear 15 Year Old Me]: Great letter, but you made me feel old....FIFTEEN?! You're just a little punkin!

I find it weird that five years ago I was only 15. I was so different back then. I kind of feel I’ve been an adult since I turned 19. Before that I was so young and naive.

hookeymonster [on Dear 15 Year Old Me]: Dan your opening paragraph is brilliant! I love how much thought you've put into the probability of our 5 year younger selves receiving these letters.

That’s how my mind works. I always take hypothetical questions literally. What’s the point in questions like “would you rather have a huge wheel instead of a leg OR be carried around by your friends for the rest of your life"? I have both my legs and don’t plan on losing any. And if I did I’d get a wheelchair. So it’s stupid, like all hypothetical questions.

As always thanks to everyone that’s commented lately and please do keep them coming, I love hearing what you have to say.

Minion of the Month: This goes to Susan for commenting the most over the last month and all of her comments being fantastic. Thanks Susan. Incidentally you can see how you rank comments-wise by clicking on the community link above the comments.

The One Two Posts You Should Go Back And Read: The first is that post about Same-Sex Marriage. I’m quite proud of that one. And as a good insight into my life at the moment I suggest Snippets, which is a good little post too.

Blog of the Month: After some head scratching and brain straining, I’ve finally decided on my blog of the month. I’ve discovered some awesome ones lately so the choice was pretty hard. It’s goes to Elle’s blog Skylarking. It’s a fantastic personal blog which is written in a friendly style and has plenty of laughs along the way. I urge you to go and check it out.

And as usual, my thoughts on the month. Well, June was a bit dull. It wasn’t really bad, nothing really happened to make it bad. In fact very little happened at all. I did spend a lovely week helping out at a pre-school though, saw Prometheus at the cinema and went on a couple of lovely walks. July’s looking much the same at the moment, though a weekend doing fieldwork in Wales should make things more interesting. 

And I don’t feel I say this often enough, so thank you to you for reading, whoever you are. Recently more and more people have been reading this blog and I feel the general quality of it is higher than ever. So thanks for stopping by, especially if you do regularly, and please keep reading and commenting!