Gay Marriage at Cedar Point: Please help us!

CoasterDiscern said:

Gay Marriage at Cedar Point: Please help us!

That is the topic title. Eric no offence, but you can clearly see just from the topic title that this thread could very easily, and quickly steer away from roller coasters.

Not Really. Someone could always suggest that "Millie" and "Maggie" are in a lesbian relationship ! UGGHH !!

And doing my best to not have any sort of underlying 'bigotry' tones here ... Those have to be the stupidest nicknames I've ever heard ! Besides, I've always had those 2 pegged as "straight" boy coasters :)

The link between the two topics, and the language used, cheekily exposes an interesting truth: it is often easier to explain/justify discrimination of the 'other' (in this sense, 'gay marriage') as opposed to the discrimination occurring to oneself (in this case, 'normalized' discrimination related to class).

Or perhaps an even more clear way to put it is it is easier to explain/justify to your children the discrimination of minorities than it is to explain similar discrimination occurring within the majority.

Tyler, you're obviously entitled to your beliefs, but there is a thing called tact. Learn to use it.

And Travis, perhaps that was a lot of stuff that should have been left to PMs. Everyone else was trying to teach Ryler that there is a place and time to say certain things, while you seem to want answers from him for your own personal reasons that have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Tyler Boes said:

So you are disliking me because of my religious beliefs?

That is unAmerican and much worse than racism. Guess what? I don't care. Sharing my thoughts was not noise, but I'm just worried that right after you die you will regret not listening to a "stupid Christian".

I know slithernoggin already gave an appropriate and succinct response, but I want to expound this point a little more. Disliking someone because of their religious beliefs is not worse than racism, and suggesting as much is an insult to people whom have suffered from racism. Racism is a judgment-usually a derogatory one-about a person’s character based solely on his or her appearance. A victim of racism is thus immediately on the defensive, facing an up-hill battle to change the racist’s mind about what kind of person he or she is.

I will agree with you that criticizing someone for their religious beliefs is un-American, but you used it (as everyone uses it) as a pejorative. To do this is to suggest that all of this country’s customs and traditions are sound and should never be changed, because by saying something is “un-American,” you’re implying that the American way is the good way. Well, in the case of religion being shielded from criticism, the American way is not good and needs to change, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen in the last 10 years.

Your religious beliefs should be held under the same scrutiny as your political beliefs, beliefs about how to raise children, beliefs about criminal justice, etc. This is because your beliefs form the foundation for your behavior, and your behavior is what it all comes down to. So if your religious beliefs lead you to say certain things or treat people a certain way, then they are absolutely fair game. Religion should not be off limits or taboo. Bad ideas are bad ideas, and they ought to be ridiculed. Case in point:

I wish the rapture would come already.

So what if there are people in a position of power that also feel this way (which there are)? What if those people have access to nukes (which they do)? Don't you see why non-believers are alarmed when people say things like that?

Also, playing the victim, which is what you’ve done by bringing up racism, is obnoxious and infuriating. You are not a victim, don’t act like one. All the heat you’ve taken is because of the things you’ve said.

And for the record, I don’t dislike you because of your religious beliefs. You’re a young person, and the chances are good that you’ve been lied to by all of the authority figures in your life. I don’t hold that against you, and I hope that someday you can rise above it.

Never has this seemed more appropriate:

All Hail Satan!

Tyler Boes said:

The fact that homosexuality has increased a lot recently brings the end times to my attention. As I've said earlier, the Bible has predicted that several things will happen before the rapture. Rise in homosexuality is one of them. That has happened along with many other things.

I think Christians should be more blunt. Our job is not to fit in. Our job is to spread the word about Jesus, but frankly, Christians are too worried about offending others. Offending someone is not the least of my worries when I've had my little religion rants. If one person accepted Jesus because of me, and every one of you got completely ticked off at me, it was a necessity for my words that were spoken. Christians sharing the gospel should not care about offending gays, people of different political values, and especially people of different religions. If they offend someone because. Of different skin color, that's bad.

Cedar Point is a non Christian business, so all in good time they will conform to the bad direction this world is going in. I guarantee it.

This is my last two cents about the situation. How has this topic survived?

But this isn't a theocracy. Noone is stopping you from spreding the word, they just don't think it's appropriate for the word to be legislated. And I would have to agree.

However, I will respond by stating that I think that its possible to view Fast Lane as discriminatory: A low-income family who saves up all summer to go to CP and can't afford Fast Lane will have to wait in lines twice as long as a wealthy family who can afford it.

By extension...anything that costs money can now be described as discriminatory as there could always be someone who "can't afford it."

The author of that article CHOSE not to pay the price for Fast Lane. He was not denied access for any other reason than his own choice.

I think his poor children need the "dad is cheap" lesson as opposed to the "world is so unfair" chapter.

Tekwardo said:

And Travis, perhaps that was a lot of stuff that should have been left to PMs. Everyone else was trying to teach Ryler that there is a place and time to say certain things, while you seem to want answers from him for your own personal reasons that have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

I don't really want answers from him, and I don't care what "everyone else was trying to teach him". I was just trying to create a thought-provoking post concerning the topic in current discussion, by using Tyler's reply as a template to say what I wanted to say on the issue. If everyone else is going to talk about the gay stuff here, I don't see why I can't too.

In hindsight, compiling that post took a lot of time and energy that would have been better served writing music or working on my novel, or even studying whatever High School subject-of-the-week that I want to relearn.

Gay rights? Aint nobody got time fo dat!

James Whitmore said:

All Hail Satan!

Unless you're dyslexic and prefer to hail Santa.

Tyler Boes said:

I think Christians should be more blunt. Our job is not to fit in. Our job is to spread the word about Jesus, but frankly, Christians are too worried about offending others. Offending someone is not the least of my worries when I've had my little religion rants.

From one Christian to another, I would encourage you to not just blindly accept the politicalized Fundamentalist views of the last few decades. I've been there. I've heard the sermons. Fact is, many churches today have a priority problem.

Greg Boyd has a fantastic blog at reknew.org that I'd recommend to anyone and everyone. (On a side note, his book "The Myth of a Christian Nation" is a must read. Those who know me have heard this recommendation before.)

Greg Boyd said:

... many of us wonder why it is that the church (rightly) embraces without question people who have been divorced and remarried – several times, in some cases –but adamantly excludes committed gay couples – couples who sometimes have a love for one another that puts the love of many straight couples to shame. What makes this question especially important is that the New Testament’s teaching that divorce and remarriage involves sin is much more emphatic and clear than its teaching that gay unions involve sin (see e.g. Mt. 5:32; 19:9). In fact, while Jesus taught on the sin of divorce and remarriage several times, he never even mentioned homosexuality.

Full Post

This post is also a good read.

invy said:

James Whitmore said:

All Hail Satan!

Unless you're dyslexic and prefer to hail Santa.

Or a fellow CoasterBuzzer...Natas. And yes, I noticed the backwards thing :)

"what rhymes with hug me?"

Well, "mug me" does - poor Robin Thicke.

Aamilj said:

By extension...anything that costs money can now be described as discriminatory as there could always be someone who "can't afford it."

Yes. I'm so sick of the overuse of the word "discrimination". It's an injustice to those who are truly discriminated against, by those who survive on the victim mentality. Now we're talking class discrimination? In a capitalist country where no one is bound to a particular "class" (well, at least not yet). I can't afford an Aston Martin, but I don't scream "unfair!" when someone can.

You know, it just occurred to me that the subtext of the response from CP on cancelling the promotion is actually more straight forward than I thought. So let me reword it:

This would have been a hilarious kicker story on the news about zombies doing weddings at Cedar Point, but because some people wanted to make it political, instead it would have turned into a story about same-sex marriage, and not about CP at all.

Talk about discrimination, what about the poor zombies??

Tekwardo said:

Tyler, you're obviously entitled to your beliefs, but there is a thing called tact. Learn to use it.

And Travis, perhaps that was a lot of stuff that should have been left to PMs. Everyone else was trying to teach Ryler that there is a place and time to say certain things, while you seem to want answers from him for your own personal reasons that have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Yeah, I'm not apologizing for the things I said, but when I said them may have been improper and inconsiderate for when they were said.

And Travis, as I've said earlier, I am not one of those people who go, "gays go to hell". My philosophy is sinners go to hell if they don't accept Jesus. By my interpretation of the Bible, it is quite obvious that homosexuality is a sexual sin along with porn, cheating on you husband/wife, sex before marriage, and etc. Ok?

I don't want my view about this to make anyone dislike me, but if people dislike me for my beliefs, so be it. Matthew 5:12 says, "

So as long as a homosexual asks Jesus for forgiveness, just like a murderer or a thief, it's all okay? Than why do Churches focus on homosexuality so much and not other behaviors that could be considered sinful?

Homosexuality is not always a sinful behavior, as far as I see it. I disagree that homosexuality is a sexual sin, as long as the two people are in a committed relationship when they are intimate with each other. Something so beautiful as love between two adults shouldn't be viewed so negatively by those who are supposed to teach love.

The cultural prejudice towards homosexuality taught by religions and parents keeps people from coming out of the closet, which keeps people from being happy. The fear that they will lose friends, be shunned by their family, or even lynched and killed because of their sexuality keeps them from finding a partner. Christians are a big part of the problem concerning this. Many Churches will not accept a member who wants to live their life with their homosexual partner. Do you think that God smiles upon those who reject their family and fellow Church members for something like this?

Teen suicide, teen homelessness, runaways, drug abuse, bullying, school shootings, and mental disorders are part of the results of how people treat gays in America, even those who profess to be Christians. Gays are not causing these problems; bigoted people are.

And the really ironic thing is that many of those who are most vocal against gays turn out to be gay themselves. They use hate to deal with their own pain. It's not their fault though, because that leaned it from their surroundings.

I apologize to Tek and "everyone else" for this post. :p

Life is easier when you discard the concept of "sin" altogether. Give me a well-reasoned code of law or at least an intellectual theory of justice, but "sin" is absolute nonsense.

Matthew 5:12 says...

I'll stick it here so you can make your point, using the New American Standard Bible version to make it easy to understand, and then I'll reply to said point...

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Who is really being persecuted in this situation? Christians? Really?