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Suppose he didn't oppose same-sex marriage per se, but opposed the way it was being implemented in California. Would he still be anti "human rights"? These is

Suppose he didn't oppose same-sex marriage per se, but opposed the way it was being implemented in California. Would he still be anti "human rights"? These issues are complex and people's beliefs and opinions can't always be distilled down to some simple, binary good/bad bit. I'm opposed to mandatory integration of public schools and mandatory racial-based quota systems. Does that make me a racist? Some would say so, others would say not. I would vigorously argue not; I totally oppose racial discrimination and I believe that a blind meritocracy in the long run brings about real, permanent integration. So should I be locked out of a non-profit tech organization because of my views? From what I've observed over the last couple of decades, the tech community hosts plenty of diverse political opinions, but generally with a serious streak of anti-authoritarianism. Do we want to now define the tech community as being on one side of any particular political or social issue? Is that a fair or healthy approach?

arrrg 13y ago
Then I guess we are lucky to know exactly what Prop 8 stood for and we also know he donated a substantial amount of money to it. Prop 8 was about specifically banning gay marriage. A blanket ban. It wasn’t about changing the implementation or any such nonsense. Your argument makes no sense in light of that.
- blisterpeanuts 13y ago
  Actually, the purpose of Prop 8 was to insert the following into the state constitution: "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" It doesn't ban gay marriage. It does explicitly assert that only traditional marriage is legally recognized.
  - arrrg 13y ago
    Well, it bans any marriage that is not between a man and a woman, effectively banning gay marriage. But that doesn’t really change my argument, does it? What’s the purpose of this pedantic response?
andrewflnr 13y ago
I'm not saying it's anti-human-rights, just answering the question about how people view the issue and (I'm assuming) Eich's response to it. Personally, these days I don't think government should have anything to do with marriage at all. For what it's worth, part of how the free market avoids devolving into pure selfishness is that people take personal stands on moral issues, regardless of economic concerns. That, also, is an important way that change happens. It just happens that you and I don't agree with that particular stand (not that it necessarily had anything to do with the resignations in question).

arrrg 13y ago

Then I guess we are lucky to know exactly what Prop 8 stood for and we also know he donated a substantial amount of money to it. Prop 8 was about specifically banning gay marriage. A blanket ban. It wasn’t about changing the implementation or any such nonsense. Your argument makes no sense in light of that.

blisterpeanuts 13y ago
Actually, the purpose of Prop 8 was to insert the following into the state constitution: "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" It doesn't ban gay marriage. It does explicitly assert that only traditional marriage is legally recognized.
- arrrg 13y ago
  Well, it bans any marriage that is not between a man and a woman, effectively banning gay marriage. But that doesn’t really change my argument, does it? What’s the purpose of this pedantic response?

andrewflnr 13y ago

I'm not saying it's anti-human-rights, just answering the question about how people view the issue and (I'm assuming) Eich's response to it. Personally, these days I don't think government should have anything to do with marriage at all. For what it's worth, part of how the free market avoids devolving into pure selfishness is that people take personal stands on moral issues, regardless of economic concerns. That, also, is an important way that change happens. It just happens that you and I don't agree with that particular stand (not that it necessarily had anything to do with the resignations in question).