My Manifesto

created 1998 November 7
revised 1999 September 7
restructured 2000 April 18
last updated 2006 September 7

WARNING: The following is the opinions and views of me and only me. It is in no way meant to offend or persecute anyone. I must inform you that what you are about to read contains forthright and brutal honesty, and those who wish to continue living in a world of deceit and superficiality should turn back now.

Religion

First off, I consider myself a nondenominational Christian. However, I feel that everyone has the right to believe whatever they want without me lecturing them about their eternal soul being purged in hellfire for their lack of faith. I believe that all religions worship pretty much the same God, only under different names: Zeus, Allah, whatever. A possibility I tend to favour is that any deity only exists as long as there are people who believe in Him/Her/It. God exists for me because I believe in Him. I can't argue with you one way or the other, just as you can't convince me to believe otherwise. Religion offers a possible explanation for what science cannot prove, but we have no way of knowing who, if anyone, is right. So we pick what we like the best and we go with it. The same goes for the mystery of death. What really happens when you die? Well, that's up to you. If you think that you are reborn into a butterfly or a tree or a rock, then you probably are. If you think your soul goes up to Heaven and remains there for all eternity, then it probably will. If you think that this life is the only life there is, well then you've got the rest of forever to just lie there and rot. Personally, I think when you die you go through a judgment process, when it is decided whether or not you go to Heaven or Hell. I think of Heaven as a serene place, and not necessarily one where you meet all your old relatives - at least not in the same sense as if you met someone in person on earth. It's a place where one can fully experience the true power of God's love, and no earthly bond is more important than that. As for Hell, I doubt it's the stereotypical flames and brimstone and a big red guy with horns, a pointy tail and a pitchfork. Hell is tailor-made, personally, just for you. Whatever you hate the most, whatever scares you the most, whatever it is on this Earth that you fear - that is what awaits you in the Underworld.

Crime and Punishment

The death penalty is highly underrated. It sickens me to see someone commit an unspeakable crime and then get out of prison early on "good behaviour." Any type of violent crime should be punishable by death. This includes attempted murder. Why should the criminal's sentence be lowered simply because the intended victim did not die? I don't believe in "temporary insanity" pleas, but that's only because it is abused to the point of ridiculousness. I only wish there were some way other than death to punish those sadistic soulless creatures who get their jollies from killing and maiming and destroying. And what's with this "criminal's rights" thing? No criminal deserves to have rights. No criminal deserves a weightroom, cable TV, and air conditioning. Once you commit a crime, you waive your rights as a citizen of the United States of America. You sell your soul away. You don't deserve anything.

Self Esteem

I am my favourite person. I'm not saying that to be narcissistic; it's just the simple fact that I know myself and I am the best person that I can be. Sometimes people think I have low self esteem simply because of some of the things I say or my views on certain topics, but it's more that I have low esteem for everyone else. I set the highest standards for myself, because I know I deserve them. I've worked to hard to make myself a good person, and I won't settle for anything less than perfection, whether it be with myself, or with others. I can't relate to people who do have low self esteem. I just can't understand how someone can hate themselves. Especially to the point of suicide. I kind of enjoy this life, and I'd like to stick around to see what else I can accomplish. My life will end on its own, when it's good and ready - I'm not going to rush the process.

Addiction

I have no compassion whatsoever with anyone who poisons their body with drugs. Just because I think they should all be legalised doesn't mean that I'm a supporter of their usage. Do whatever twisted concoction of mind-altering substances you can find, but don't come crying to me when your bodily functions shut themselves down one by one. I really don't get why anyone needs to be addicted to anything, no matter what it is: television, the Internet, tobacco, alcohol, etc. It makes me laugh in disgust to see people having nervous conniptions just because their last cigarette was a whole two hours ago. And it almost makes me physically ill when I hear people talk about how excited they are about the upcoming weekend because they're looking forward to getting trashed. I can think of so many better things to do with my time. People say they drink because it helps them forget their problems. That's fine, but does it solve them? I'm guessing no. So instead of just forgetting the problems for a few hours and having them still be there when you regain consciousness, why can't you soberly work on solving those problems and rid yourself of them forever? Oh, and then you throw up. That's a grand old time, isn't it? Sorry, but that's not my idea of a fun party activity. I can get the same effect by simply jamming a few fingers down my throat. I guess I just like to be in control of my life. I don't need to move aside and let something else get into the driver's seat. When I hear people talk about parties, they can't remember half the crap that went on. If that ever happened to me, if I couldn't remember something, that would scare the living hell out of me, because I would have no idea what I or anyone else did during that time. But I've got a conscience. A big one. If Pinocchio's conscience is Jiminy Cricket, then mine is a forty-foot-tall praying mantis.

Relationships

Did you know that I almost gave up on this one? I actually had it in my mind that on my twentieth birthday I was going to make a final update to this manifesto, pretty much grabbing every woman by the shoulders and shaking her and asking "What the hell is up with you?!" I am willing to bet that every female on this planet of ours has dated a real jerk. Probably more than once. And they complain so much about how there are no nice guys around anymore. And to think, I got my first kiss exactly one week shy of my twentieth brithday: seven short days before I was going to give up on women entirely, considering them nothing but hopeless, superficial, and pitiful creatures who enjoy being belittled, abused, and taken for granted. But that all changed when 24 January 2000 was a mere three hours and fourteen minutes old. That was my first kiss. And at exactly 12:01 AM on 8 February 2000, Erin and I officially started "going out." I can finally feel everything I've been waiting to feel. I know what it's like to give a backrub or a foot massage. I know what it's like to cuddle up together and watch a movie. And the wait was more than worth it. But it still frustrates me to see other women clinging to some guy who treats her like gutter trash, and I wish there were something more I could do, but knowing that I saved one person from a life full of mediocrity - or worse - makes me know I'm doing the right thing. I've learned from watching other people's mistakes, and I know how I want my and Erin's relationship to progress. And we'll go down that road together.

Sex

This is perhaps the most important and deep-running belief I have. Keep this in mind as you read: I believe that sex is the most powerful force on this Earth. It is the power to create human life. What could be more special than that? The day I found out what sex really was, I sat and pondered it for a good while, then, after careful deliberation, I came to a conclusion: sex is the single most important and significant thing on this planet. It is the physical manifestation of the greatest love that two people can have for each other, and that makes it pretty damn special. Having figured that out, I promised myself that I'd only do that with the one person I felt was 'The' one. The fact that Erin believes the same thing only heightens my desire to wait until we get married before we share that most intimate moment with each other. Sure, we could be humping like jackrabbits, but we're better than that. There's more than just a shred of willpower between the two of us. Besides, if we are to share with each other our respective virginities, our most prized possessions, then I want to earn it. She says I already have earned it, and perhaps that is true, but to me, marriage, the promise of forever, is the only way to do fulfil that oath entirely. Now I know that I have found the one person with whom I am worthy enough to share that experience. And that - faith, trust, and love - is what sex is all about. Sex is the most beautiful thing that two people can do together, and that is why it is worth so much.

26 November 2000

Maybe I was right for the wrong reasons, but I'm glad I was still right to save myself for the one woman who would become my wife. I learned all the right reasons from a book called "When God Writes Your Love Story" by Eric and Leslie Ludy. Everyone in the world should read it. Everyone. This book has also shown me that I'm not the only one who came to my conclusions about love, sex and relationships. If I may (ahem) borrow a small excerpt:
"Just imagine that inside your heart there is a place where only one person can ever enter, other than God. It's a combination between a mini-kingdom where you store up your finest treasures, and a dazzling meadow where your sweetest flowers bloom. In this mini-kingdom you store up the most extravagant love, and in this dazzling meadow you nurture your most tender affections. The longer this sanctuary is faithfully guarded, cultivated, and beautified, the more enchanting it will become."
Okay, so my version isn't as poetic, but I got the point, right?

19 November 2000

Salvation

I spent the past weekend at a religious youth convention. (I'm twenty years old, so I'm not exactly "youth," but let's ignore that right now.) I'm really not all that enthusiastic about my religion - I'm not going to sing and dance for God, mostly because it is my understanding that if He wanted me to sing to Him, He'd have given me a better singing voice. I prefer to be solemn and internal, and that's okay. I grew up knowing Jesus and what His story is, and throughout my day I'd talk to Him in my head every once in a while. It was never a question; I was so naīve that I assumed everyone knew, everyone was a Christian and felt pretty much the same as I did, but it has become unpleasantly obvious that this is not so. I really wasn't sure how to handle that, but I figured that if He ever needed me to do anything more, then He'd let me know. Tonight I got my wake-up call. I think it was just a culmination of all the events of this weekend, crashing down on me all at once with the weight of its significance. Why didn't I figure it out before? I knew it all along, but never realised. Jesus Christ died for me. Because of this perfect and final sacrifice, I can be allowed to spend eternity in love and peacefulness. As I was listening to the speaker, I closed my eyes and I could picture Him on the cross, and a shaft of light illuminating His battered form, and all the sin that will ever exist in the world flooding into Him, rippling and blackening His skin until He couldn't even be recognised as a human being, let alone the Saviour of all humankind. Then a silence... it must have only lasted a second, but it seemed to take forever. Slowly but steadily I saw a soft white glow which restored Jesus' body, and then, with a raspy final breath, He died. All I wanted to do right then was to give Him a hug and thank Him. I know there's no way I can repay Him: all I have to give in return is my faithfulness, my loyalty and my soul, and pray that He can lead me where I am needed most. It is my understanding that my first task is to read the Bible in its entirety, so that I can form my own beliefs as to what the Truth really is, so that I can separate fact from the twisted and oh-so-convenient lies concocted by people who use parodies of Bible verses to hide behind their own hypocritical and pathetic lives. I want the truth, and there is only one way to learn it, and I'm going to dive right in. There's no other way to do it.

30 November 2001

The Bible

The other night, I finished reading. It took me a little over a year to read the Bible in its entirety from beginning to end, and it would have been slightly shorter if I hadn't been so busy with schoolwork. However, I have learnt some things, and I have kept detailed notes, which I will post here once I type them all out. Sort of like a Cliff's Notes version - the parts that I thought were most important, either because I strongly agree with it, strongly disagree with it, or because it explains something in a way I never thought of before. I have come to believe that religion isn't just a matter of following rules and "being good": it's about serving as a living example to nonbelievers. Many agnostics or atheists think of religion as a way to control people's thoughts and force them to act a certain way, and it is the job of people like me to show them what the true purpose of belief is. Religion is something personal, an interpretation all your own that no one else can have, something that by nature cannot be organised - this is why I don't feel the need to go to church. As for the Bible, I still don't trust it entirely to be the definitive source of all of my religious beliefs. I know it's supposed to be the direct word of God, and I'm sure at one point it was, but through multiple translations and the passage of time, some things may have been slightly affected, so a portion of the original meaning may have ended up lost. I don't know enough about King James to fully trust the guy.
One more thing: I do not believe in sects. I am not a Catholic. I am not a Protestant. I am not a Methodist or a Baptist or Lutheran or Presbyterian. I am a Christian.
There are a few other things I've been meaning to comment about, but I wanted to wait until I finished the Bible first. So here goes.

Abortion

I'm sure if you talk to anyone who claims to be religious, they will say that all life is sacred, and that abortion is wrong, under all circumstances. I disagree. While in today's society, abortion has been the cure-all for stupid mistakes and a substitution for actual forethought and responsibility, I believe that there is a time when abortion is actually the best decision. At certain points in the Bible, it says something to the effect that it "would have been better for him if he had never been born at all," and this is how I interpret that. We all know that a child who grows up in a screwed-up family will become an adult and have a screwed-up family of its very own someday, and the cycle continues. In my own little perfect naīve little mind, of course, if you aren't prepared financially or emotionally to care for a child, then you certainly shouldn't be sexually active, because - surprise, surprise - that's the only way to get pregnant. However, people are fallible and mistakes can be made: contraceptives are certainly far from 100% accurate. And sometimes the unexpectedly expectant mother is faced with very limited options: either the child grows up without the attention and care it needs to survive and mature and function properly, or it doesn't. And if she knows in her heart that it won't, then abortion is a valid option, for her and for the child, who deserves a better life than what could be provided for it at that time. (Keep in mind that adoption is still a far better choice.) In addition (although even I think that this just be my idealism speaking), since the baby has not been born into this world, it is still free from original sin, and therefore it returns to wherever the souls of unborn children come from.
I speak about this partially from experience, because a close friend of mine had an abortion. At least, she was a close friend... I really have no idea what happened to her. But I do remember what a horrible experience it was for her. Like all decisions, it came with a price.

Terrorism vs. Patriotism

I meant to talk about this on September 11th, but I decided to let the shock die down a bit, so that my mind can be clear on what I really want to say. I cannot even begin to imagine how horrible it must still be at the sites of the four plane crashes, let alone to actually have experienced them as they happened. Even though I don't directly know anyone who was on any of the planes, or at the Pentagon or the World Trade Center at the time, I know people who know people who survived, and I know people who know people who died. I've received countless emails, ranging from humorous to religious to patriotic. First the world was shocked, as the videotape of the explosions was played ad nauseum, and from some angles you could see people as they fell, choosing to die by falling hundreds of feet onto the concrete, rather than burn alive among the panic and confusion inside the towers. Almost immediately afterward, a vengeful anger, as many innocent people were hurt or killed simply because they looked like they just might possibly somewhat resemble a person of Arabian lineage. Even now there is a bit of discrimination, as if everyone with light brown skin who has a beard and turban suddenly becomes dangerous, simply because they are different. Keep in mind that there are deranged genocidal psychopaths of all colours, nationalities and religions. And in this case, I use the term "religion" loosely. Anyone who thinks it's okay to kill any amount of people for any reason cannot rightly explain their actions with religion. The Ku Klux Klan claims to be Christian, but I can guarantee you that not one of those hooded bigots will taste the same eternal life that I will. Osama bin Laden claims to be Muslim, and again I can assure you that he and the rest of al Qaeda are not. I don't know much about Islam, and if at all possible I'd also like to read the Qur'an, which I would also like to take notes on, just as I did with the Bible.
I veered slightly off-course, so let me go back to patriotism. First and foremost, the United States of America is not that great a country. The Trail of Tears. Slavery. The Vietnam War. All the dirty little secrets that the government doesn't want us citizens to know about. We claim to be anti-imperialistic, but what has made our country "great" in the first place is Manifest Destiny, which is imperialism in its finest form. Our forefathers exterminated and transplanted the native peoples just so our great country could reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific. We claim to be against Communism, and consider it a victory that East Germany and the USSR no longer exist. We have an embargo on Cuba, but China is our number one trading partner, and both are Communist. We want to unify Korea, but why not unify Ireland? Why do we care about the civil wars in Chechnya and Kosovo and East Timor, but not a word is said about Algeria? Most Americans probably couldn't have even pointed Afghanistan out on a map if you asked them on September 10th. I see people with American flags hanging out their car window, waving on their car antennas, decals on their windshields, bumper stickers, pins, neckties, boxer shorts, cigarette lighters - God Bless America everywhere you look. The United States isn't that great. I need to find a flag of Afghanistan and start waving that with pride.
I'm not saying that the United States is bad, per se. Simply that its only a name for a country, which is a meaningless symbol, just like every other country. I'm an American, but how different does that make me when compared to a person from any other country in the world? We are all human beings, and there's no reason why anyone should be proud of who they are, simply on the basis of where they came from. I'm proud of who I am because of my personal beliefs and convictions, and that has nothing to do with where I live.

25 February 2002

Time Travel

I just saw a commercial for that new movie coming out based on H. G. Wells' "The Time Machine", and that reminded me that I do have strong opinions about this as well, although it's far less of a socially controversial subject as some of the other material covered here. In any case, I believe that time travel can exist, but under extremely strict conditions. First, I think that it is impossible to travel to the future, for the simple reason that it hasn't happened yet. And think - if time travel really did exist, why wouldn't the people from the future have come back to tell us about it? Or even better, the technology would have been sure to have fallen into the wrong hands sooner or later, so some evil genius from the future could travel back to the dawn of time and create a world of his or her own liking. (Consequently, how do we know that this hasn't already happened? But I digress.) One theory states that time travel would only be possible within the span of time that the particular time machine one is using has existed... so it's impossible to travel any farther back than the creation of the machine you're in. This assumes, however, that one can physically travel through time and interact with the past and future. I believe that this is impossible. You can't take a physical object - especially a living one - and transport it through time so that it can interact with its environment. The only form of time travel that can possibly exist is travel to the past, and even then, it's a past that cannot be interacted with. I really don't want to get into how the speed of light correlates with the speed of time, but if a person can travel beyond the speed of light, then they can see the light that has already reflected off of objects in the past, in essence "catching up" with the illusion of things that have already happened. The longer that one travels faster than the speed of light, the farther back into the past can be seen. Of course, any matter travelling faster than the speed of light must itself become light, due to the fact that it contains so much energy. So until a way is found to make a person go faster than the speed of light and to safely return the person's body to its original form, all the way down to the atomic level, time travel can never be a reality.

01 April 2002

New Beginnings and Crossing Bridges

It took me a while to accept that Erin and I had broken up, but eventually I actually got to enjoying being single again. It was liberating in a way. Besides, I had had a valuable learning experience, and I know what I will do differently and what I won't do differently when it comes to future relationships. And speaking of which...
Liz and I met six weeks ago. I was coming back to my dorm from my radio show and she was sitting in the lobby. We got to talking and it really felt nice because we could talk about pretty much anything. It turned out we both like the same type of music, role-playing games and Japanese animation (anime), and so we made it a point to hang out and we'd play games and watch movies and it was a lot of fun. I originally thought that we'd end up being "just friends", albeit really good friends, and that would be the extent of our relationship, but that's not how it turned out. Somewhere along the line, we fell in love, and last night was when I finally knew in my heart that I wanted to be her boyfriend. I remember thinking to myself that all I really wanted was someone who could appreciate what I have to offer, and Liz does exactly that. It took me totally by storm, because not only is she not a virgin, but she's not Christian either - and to my great surprise, that doesn't bother me at all, because when she looks into my eyes, I know she loves me the way I want and need to be loved. She has made mistakes and learned from them, and I can't fault her or judge her for that.
I tend to worry a lot, and with this relationship, I don't have anything to worry about. I can ease away from being a perfectionist and a planner and just enjoy the moment as it happens, instead of being insecure about the future. For the first time in my life, I can say that I will handle any situations as they happen, and not worry about what I might do if something goes awry. We both believe that what is meant to happen will happen, and no matter what, we will always be very close friends.
I mentioned that Liz isn't Christian - in fact, she is Wiccan. At first I was tentative, but I didn't want to condemn something I don't understand, so I had her explain her beliefs to me, and it occured to me that my approach to Christianity seems to contain Wiccan elements, and since she was raised Christian, she has a very Christian outlook on Wicca. Nothing she has told me directly contradicts what I believe, and we can talk about our religious beliefs openly without fear of being looked down upon, and that's a good feeling.

17 May 2002

Bible Notes

I've finished typing out the notes I scribbled down while I was reading the Bible. It may be a while until I convert them to HTML format, since there are quite a lot of them. For now, here is a Microsoft Word document, and if that doesn't work then email me and I'll get them to you some other way. I make it a point to detail the things I thought were most important: the nature of supernatural beings like God, Jesus Christ, Satan, angels and demons; rules that I agree with, and rules that I don't agree with.
I've found the most important and interesting books to be the four Gospels (even now I still cry at the end of them because I remember my vision), Job, and The Revelation, which seems like a cross between a great fantasy novel and a bad acid flashback. It really was quite odd to me for the majority of the Bible to talk about "regular" things, and then to end with stories about beasts and dragons and a lake of fire. I guess this means that the end of the world is really going to be weird.
There are a few things that really stuck out as unusual to me: first the word Selah. It's used a lot in the Psalms and I have no idea what it means. Second is Sheol, which from context I can assume it is another word for Hell, but they don't use it very often. Lastly, in the Gospels, it compares tax collectors on an equal status as sinners and harlots. Now I know no one likes the tax collectors, but are they really that bad?

11 September 2002

Remembrance

As if the constant media coverage could let us forget, today is once again September the eleventh. The so-called day that changed the world forever. But what is really all that different, aside from longer lines at the airport?
The most important thing is that we do not become desensitized to what happened. We cannot offhandedly remember this as a day of four airplanes, two towers, a pentagon and six thousand people dying. At the same time, we have to realise that those people were not heroes, nor were they patriots. They were doing what we all do every single day: they went to work to support their families. That's it. It had nothing to do with duty to their country, but rather an individual and personal obligation to provide for the people they care about. And since that's the case, let's let those families grieve in peace. No one needs to watch documentaries on every television station reliving the events of one year ago. If I die in such a way, I do not want to be remembered as a hero or a patriot. Just remember me for who I am: an individual person who loves his family and friends, and not just another name on a list of people that most of the world has never heard of and really doesn't care all that much about. Remember those who died in your own personal and unique way, and leave it at that. Dwelling on the past will not change it. Death is a part of life. We will all lose someone dear to us. Remembering them will ensure that they're never truly gone. As for the rest of us, who count ourselves fortunate that we were not greatly affected by this tragedy, it's time for us to let it be.
A final thought: if there are any people who should be considered heroes in this matter, it is the police officers and fire fighters, who performed the desperate task of searching the rubble. I respect those people more than anything, because I don't think I'd be emotionally able to handle something like that. They wrote their social security numbers on their arms so that their bodies could be identified if they were killed in the rescue efforts. How many of us would willingly do the same?

28 January 2003

Destruction on an Unprecedented Scale

The stage is set, and a potential global meltdown is at hand. The US is threatening war on Iraq, and I am not surprised to find that many European nations are against us on this one. Since the über-patriotism in the wake of September 11th has died down, anti-American sentiments have grown in other countries, and they're pretty much just getting sick of us. I can't blame them. Does the world need a watchdog? Is the United States such a perfect country that it has to be the standard for all world governments? Why can't we feed and clothe and give jobs to our homeless people first? People are so quick to support the war without realising that it will result in the most grievous loss of human life in the history of civilisation (if our society even deserves to be called 'civil').
Don't get me wrong. I am not an anarchist or a fascist or anything like that. I just understand that no government is perfect, no matter how much it thinks it is. The only problems arise when that government feels the need to prove its superiority over everyone else.

24 February 2004

Overexposure

I don't even want to give this any attention, because it's already received far more attention than it deserves, so forgive me. Can't everyone just get over seeing Janet Jackson's boob at the Super Bowl? All this incident shows me is that Congress thinks nipple jewellery is more important than mass murderers. They formed a committee to discuss a breast faster than it took them to talk about finding Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. I understand that there is a time and a place for everything, and halftime during the Super Bowl is certainly not a time for nudity, but is what led up to it any less offensive? Is Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake grinding all over each other and feeling each other up and dryhumping each other okay just as long as all of their body parts stay safely concealed? I, like most of the world, am not offended by an exposed breast, accidental or not. I'm more offended by the fact that neither of them can actually sing.
I find it hard to believe that the US can be so appalled by a single boob when it's the largest consumer of pornography in the world. So while the government is arguing over what the American public is offended by - without even asking us for our input - there are people fighting a war and dying, in increasingly stupid and preventable ways. Every couple of days we hear about some Iraqi strapping a bomb to himself and blowing up an American soldier or two. Even if our soldiers aren't losing their lives, many have lost arms, legs or eyes, and we're more concerned about a two-second flash of mammary.
To add to the ridiculousness, I just read today that the President is urging Congress to adopt a Constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage. Why is this such an important cause? Is the country a worse place because two men or two women are legally bound together because they love each other? Or would the President rather have people living lies and marrying someone they don't love and having children they don't want and never feeling accepted or understood? Yes, the Bible says being gay is wrong. Here, let me quote for you: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination." That's Leviticus 18:22. And now, Leviticus 11:12 - "Whatever in the water that does not have fins or scales - that shall be an abomination to you." So if we're going to ban gay marriages, why don't we go shut down Red Lobster as well? After all, it says it right there in the Good Book - both are equally abominable.
What I'm saying is that the government needs to stop controlling our lives. I mean, it's always controlled our lives, only now it's not keeping it so much of a secret. If the Taliban are psycho Muslims who don't allow women to expose any skin in public, then George W. Bush looks to me like a psycho Christian who is singling out a group in our society and taking their freedom and equality away. Why don't we ban black marriages too? Or make separate water fountains for homosexuals? Or have the sections in a fancy restaurant be smoking, nonsmoking, and Asians? In conclusion, here is something I stole from the Live Journal of my ex Erin, which she stole from someone named Shannon:
1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control.
2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people can't legally get married because the world needs more children.
3. Obviously, gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage is allowed, since Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.
5. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are property, blacks can't marry whites, and divorce is illegal.
6. Gay marriage should be decided by people, not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities.
7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire counrty. That's why we have only one religion in America.
8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
10. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why single parents are forbidden to raise children.
11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven't adapted to things like cars or longer lifespans.
12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a "seperate but equal" institution is always constitutional. Seperate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as seperate marriages for gays and lesbians will.

This was a really long entry, and maybe it's just because I haven't felt the need to update in over a year. Or this stupid country just has me so freaking angry.

2 October 2004

Announcement

Thursday, 30 September 2004. On this day Liz and I have been together for two and a half years. I took her out to dinner and then I proposed. The wedding is tentatively planned for Labor Day weekend 2006.

14 August 2005

Wedding Progress

It took us a while to start figuring out exactly how to prepare, but with just over a year to go, I think we're doing okay. We've finally settled on a time and place: 2 September 2006 in the same church where Liz's parents got married. Since her grandparents have some difficulty getting around we decided to have it more accessible to her family. We've gotten most of the bridal party, but since I don't have very many friends of my own, we're a little lacking in the male department, but I have people I can ask to be my groomsmen if I can't figure anything else out. Luckily one of Liz's female friends is going to be on my side, tux and all, so instead of being 5-1, the wedding party is now 4-2 in favour of the ladies. We joke that this is going to be the most untraditional traditional wedding and that the church in the little town of Sigel will fall off its foundation, since we've got a cross-dresser in the wedding party and a biracial ringbearer. The reception will be equally nontraditional because most of Liz's friends don't dance, and I'm selecting all the music that will be played. No chicken dance, no electric slide, no YMCA, no Macarena, no Lady Marmalade, no Baby Got Back, and absolutely no cha-cha slide! The vast majority of it will be slow-dance power-ballads by the musicians we like. Nothing loud or with any swearing to offend the grandparents.

I'd also like to post something else taken from a Live Journal:

I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.
I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.
I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.
We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.
I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.
I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.
I am one of the lucky ones, I guess. I survived the attack that left me in a coma for three weeks, and in another year I will probably be able to walk again.
I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.
We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.
I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me.
I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.
I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.
I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.
I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men.
I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.
I am the woman who died when the EMTs stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual.
I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didnt have to always deal with society hating me.
I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind.
I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.

07 September 2006

The End / The Beginning

On the second day of September, in the year two thousand six, Liz and I were married. Everything went really well. Our families and friends got along with each other, and no one was upset by the biracial ringbearer or the woman in a tuxedo. And most importantly, the church didn't get struck by lightning, even though at least four pagans were in the building. We went to Niagara Falls on our honeymoon. I don't want to say I lost my virginity to Liz, because nothing has been lost. We have found a deeper level of appreciation and love for one another. Something I could never share with anyone else. I know it's not right for everyone, but it was right for me. I'm glad I waited. I'm glad I saved myself. If anyone finds this and reads it and is encouraged to do the same, then good luck and God bless. I now bring an end to this manifesto of mine, for it has served me well and reminded me that, for better or for worse, this is who I am. Don't try to be like me. Don't try to be like anyone. Just be yourself.
Good journey.

Š weequay80@hotmail.com
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