Jim Carroll: to equate same sex marriage with "neo Nazism", paedophila and incest

I would submit that it was Jim Carroll, not I, who equated these things. I simply used same-sex marriage and neo-Nazism to illustrate my point. I certainly did not and would not equate them.

But since Mr. Carroll is so thoroughly convinced of the righteousness of his cause, he appears to believe that the rules of logic do not apply to him.

Mr. Carroll and others seem to believe that since their cause is so obviously right, there's no need to bother with the niceties of logical and respectful and honest discussion. Since Rupert Murdoch claims the right to distort the facts because of the righteousness of his cause, why shouldn't those on the left have the same right to use Murdochian tactics? Is that what you're telling us, Mr. Carroll?

And Ed T., I thought you were smarter than to try to silence me by nit-picking my analogies. "Black Power" is a perfectly legal slogan that supports the empowerment of an oppressed minority to overcome discrimination. Admittedly, some people viewed the slogan as threatening, but that was not the primary purpose of the slogan. "Support Gay Marriage" is also a perfectly legal slogan. But it's likely that some merchants would be unwilling to want to emblazon these slogans on the merchandise they sell. I think one would be hard-put to find a court in the United States that would compel a merchant to produce merchandise bearing such slogans.

I understand quite clearly that a judge in Northern Ireland found the merchant's unwillingness to use the slogan to be discrimination, but I think the judge's opinion went too far.That's my opinion. This opinion does not mean that I am a horrible person or an anti-gay bigot. It simply means that I think the judge was injudicious.

And then there's Steve Shaw's milk analogy. I completely agree that he should be able to go to the store and buy a pint of mild and expect an amicable transaction. I do, however, think he might meet with rejection if he were to require the merchant to decorate the milk bottle with a political slogan. I think that when a merchant or artist does custom orders, that merchant or artist should have the unquestioned right to say, "I don't want to do this."

Again, this is my opinion. I fully acknowledge that it is in disagreement with a number of our more aggressive posters, who seem to think that any opinion differing from theirs should be silenced. I hope they can learn to live with my freedom to express my opinion.

-Joe-