Gay Marriage and Why I Dislike the Republican Party

[jcb]

Some reading (Rousseau) I was doing for my sociology course clarified my rational for two opinions I've held for quite some time to such a degree that I feel bound to record them while it's all still in my head

Comments

[dbmiller]

You know that I disagree with the Republicans on gay marriage, but I'm not entirely sure that an attempt to "alter [the general will]" negates the right of a given group to govern or represent the "sovereign whole." I tend to see persuading the public to accept a given set of beliefs to be part of leadership, provided it's done by fundamentally honest means. I'm not sure that I think that the GOP at large has met this criteria on this issue, but I find the notion that governments should not attempt to modify the opinions of their populace to be absurd. It's a leadership job, and that entails more than blindly following public opinion.

That having been said, I'm not entirely sure how an anti-gay marriage stand is contrary to the "general will" - have you checked the referendum results from Michigan and Oregon (two states the President lost)? The "general will" in this country is strongly against the concept, no matter what you (or I) believe.

This is the danger of late-night facebook browsing, I suppose.

- Dan

[jcb]

no, I think it's more the danger of late night facebook updating; it all seems like such a muddle now.