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David 
to wish impossible things
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: the edge of the deep green sea
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Here's the article I sent in last week. Haven't heard back from them yet:
| Quote: | In April, a decade will have passed since the Netherlands became the first country in the world to recognise same-sex marriage. In the intervening period, nine other nations, including Canada, South Africa and Spain, have followed suit, and the subject is being seriously discussed at a parliamentary level in other jurisdictions.
This is happening for a reason. When no evidence exists of the alternative causing personal harm or societal damage, it is deeply problematic to maintain laws that limit human rights - particularly in secular, democratic societies, where tradition alone cannot be sufficient reason to perpetuate an oppressive status quo. And yet, in Australia, same-sex marriage remains prohibited; according to the Government, not even on the agenda.
Social change is a torturous process, and, if anything, the progress of LGBTI rights has been relatively swift. It was only in 1994 that sodomy ceased to be a legally punishable crime in Australia; 1984 that homosexuality ceased to be considered a disorder by the Australian Medical Association. Today, opinion polls generally show that 50-60% of Australia’s adult population supports same-sex marriage, a statistic that condemns the current Government’s position as not only outdated, but undemocratic.
Another, less reported fact is equally illuminating. The most recent Galaxy poll found that 80% of 18-24 year olds supported same-sex marriage, as opposed to only 46% of respondents over 50. This outcome should hardly be surprising. Young adults of today are far more familiar with homosexuality than their parents or grandparents were, and many will have openly gay acquaintances or friends. The importance of this cannot be underestimated. It is far harder to maintain ignorant and stereotypical beliefs about homosexuality when one is confronted by real, ordinary people on an everyday basis. As society breeds generations accustomed to (and thus comfortable with) the phenomenon of alternative sexuality, public opinion on issues like same-sex marriage will continue to shift. It is, more or less, an irreversible process.
If this gives same-sex marriage an aura of inevitability, it could prove counterproductive. One of the greatest challenges facing same-sex marriage is apathy, much of it coming from within the queer population. For some LGBTI people, the issue seems borderline irrelevant, whilst others seek to distance same-sex rights from what they see as an outdated, patriarchal institution. Such perspectives, much like those of Bible-waving fundamentalists, miss a crucial point: marriage is a relatively straightforward legal status that gives official recognition to couples and families. While civil partnerships can serve a similar function, they are an unsatisfactory goal. Offering civil unions as an alternative to marriage continues the insulting assumption that same-sex couples are different to heterosexual counterparts; inferior, somehow, and not quite ‘real’.
It’s an insidious implication, one that many queer people still face in everyday life. Same-sex marriage won’t put an end to homophobia, but it will strike a significant blow; after all, if same-sex relationships are granted official recognition and validity, homosexuality itself is granted further validity. This, more than anything, is what frightens the religious lobbies.
The catch-cry of those groups, that marriage must be between a man and a woman, has little logical basis. One need only look back a couple of centuries to see how radically understandings of marriage have changed in Western society. No longer is it dependent on the church or viewed as a primarily financial imperative, and nor are brides now considered chattel to be passed from father to husband. In the 21st century, marriage is a statement of love and commitment between two adults, as well as a legal status devoid of religious implication. Only sheer bloody-mindedness could deny same-sex couples that right.
Appeals to the well-being of children are similarly flawed. Whatever one may think of the necessity of male and female parent figures, the fact is that the law already grants single-parent families the right to exist, however unideal some may view that outcome to be. Given that this right is offered, it becomes rather absurd that two mothers or two fathers should be considered less viable. In any case, we live in an age of widely accessible information, flexible gender roles and ample support networks; and, as such, it’s actually quite tenuous to argue that same-sex parents would do a poorer job of raising children than heterosexuals.
Of course, these arguments merely provide further credence to an already widely supported viewpoint. The majority of Australians, it seems, are already in favour of same-sex marriage, and it is highly likely that support will continue to grow in the future. It remains up to the Government, then, to enact the will of the people and allow this important, long overdue liberty to be claimed. |
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"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence." – Julian Assange |
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David
to wish impossible things
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: the edge of the deep green sea
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| pietillidie wrote: | Here are few more points of critique, David. I hope you're not regretting what is a gutsy move on your part 
1. You write:
| David wrote: | | A good start, however, might be to establish how and why it originates. Astoundingly, such information is highly inconclusive. |
Actually, it's not astounding at all. As said above, we don't have working models of most of human behaviour. We poke around and know say that dopamine levels are related to this, insufficient activity in the neocortex related to that, people who are exposed to the other more prone to whatever, and so on, but we are still miles off mapping cognitive biology. The various theories you list are common explanations for almost every behaviour you care to think of, so again, there is nothing astounding about it.
I think this reflects a larger problem of you not citing experts or data, which is fine in general social argument, but not when you're dealing with something as technically specialised as pathology or epidemiology.
2. You write:
| David wrote: | | the hefty penalties inflicted on those found with such material in their possession are deeply troubling. |
I'd say at this point most people would be finding the horrific thought in their head concerning the origins of the material far more "troubling" than penalties they already think are not severe enough. Now, from memory you may have an argument to the contrary, but you don't provide it. There are so many issues here and so little space to deal with them, aren't you better off reducing the article to a single argument on a single aspect of the problem? You might even be better off looking at the general question of whether or not crime per se can be viewed as an illness.
3. See above for my critique of your use of "humanist". It's too vague a notion to be put forward as the basis for anything, as is the term "progressive". I reckon they only confound an already controversial piece.
4. The expression "paedophiles are people too" is extremely unfortunate as it sounds like either a callous word play on the expression "kids are people too", or a flippant word play on any variant of "x are people too", usually used in a humorous context. Again, I know this is not your intention, but it screams aloofness.
Overall, no one is ever going to accept they ought to be concerned about "indefensible rhetoric" in the light of such a heinous violence. They might be concerned about rates of abuse (you present no data), advances in early detection (no data), the costs of the crime (no data), potential treatment/minimisation (no data), perpetrator profiling (no data), and pathology findings (no data). Look at how this piece on psychopaths is worked to an analogous point right at the end of what is a very long article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/10/081110fa_fact_seabrook?currentPage=all |
Thanks for the critique, ptid. It was interesting talking to a postgrad psych student last night (a friend of my girlfriend's), and she had a lot of interesting thoughts on the issue. I think all the points you raise are valid, and, as much as I don't think I can handle another rewrite at the moment, perhaps I can come back with a better piece in a few months.
_________________
"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence." – Julian Assange |
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Skids 
Quitting drinking will be one of the best choices you make in your life.
Joined: 11 Sep 2007
Location: Joined 3/6/02 . Member #175
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This thread has played total havoc on me..... I haven't been able to sleep, I'm 10 days into a 14 day shift away from home right now.
You try to block out what happened, moments after and still, 30 years later. You pray that it will never happen to your children or anyone you know but at the same time you know that you can do nothing about it unless you lock everyone away!
The predator will find a way to manipulate his prey.... alcohol, cigarettes, maybe, today, drugs whatever.... he will befriend their parents, maybe have dinner with them to conceal & spin his web of perverse pleasure.
His prey will be too scared, too shamed to tell anyone what they have suffered. They will live with the nightmare until the day they take their final breath.... this is the reality David.
My Mum & Dad, to this day, don't know that the person they welcomed into our home was the same person that molested not only me, but nearly every child that enjoyed a chocolate crackle in our backyard.
I honestly believe ther are some that don't deserve to be amongst us.
Your thread promted me to tell a very close friend, who I had never told before, about what had happened. It reminded me about my high school reports that I had just uncovered whilst cleaning out my shed. If I was to relay the comments and grades to you from each semester i'm sure you would be able to identify the time my life was changed forever.
Thanks for jolting my memory.
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Don't count the days, make the days count. |
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pietillidie
Joined: 07 Jan 2005
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^That's terrible, Skids. Very sorry to hear. Good on you for telling your mate and sharing with us here, though.
Have you spoken to a professional, or have you only started talking about things recently? It sounds like you've had to bear that pretty much alone for years. There might even be a qualified expert on Nick's who could lend an ear.
Take care and good on you for speaking up. I'm not an expert, but feel free to post or PM anytime. Life can be total crap sometimes.
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In the end the rain comes down, washes clean the streets of a blue sky town.
Help Nick's: http://www.magpies.net/nick/bb/fundraising.htm |
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HAL
Please don't shout at me - I can't help it.
Joined: 17 Mar 2003
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| All I ever do is talk. Oh really what does you've had to bear that much for years sound like? |
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David
to wish impossible things
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: the edge of the deep green sea
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| Skids wrote: | This thread has played total havoc on me..... I haven't been able to sleep, I'm 10 days into a 14 day shift away from home right now.
You try to block out what happened, moments after and still, 30 years later. You pray that it will never happen to your children or anyone you know but at the same time you know that you can do nothing about it unless you lock everyone away!
The predator will find a way to manipulate his prey.... alcohol, cigarettes, maybe, today, drugs whatever.... he will befriend their parents, maybe have dinner with them to conceal & spin his web of perverse pleasure.
His prey will be too scared, too shamed to tell anyone what they have suffered. They will live with the nightmare until the day they take their final breath.... this is the reality David.
My Mum & Dad, to this day, don't know that the person they welcomed into our home was the same person that molested not only me, but nearly every child that enjoyed a chocolate crackle in our backyard.
I honestly believe ther are some that don't deserve to be amongst us.
Your thread promted me to tell a very close friend, who I had never told before, about what had happened. It reminded me about my high school reports that I had just uncovered whilst cleaning out my shed. If I was to relay the comments and grades to you from each semester i'm sure you would be able to identify the time my life was changed forever.
Thanks for jolting my memory. |
I'm sorry for bringing up painful memories. I think this post more than any (and more than any other soul-searching) has told me why my piece wasn't published and why that may well be a good thing.
_________________
"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence." – Julian Assange |
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