Shit that Pissed Me Off – 1/30

Oklahoma Works to Make Same-Sex Marriage Harder

They lost in the courts so now some legislators are trying to make same-sex marriage harder by preventing judges from signing marriage certificates.  Instead, Representative Todd Russ wants to ensure that only priests or “ecclesiastical dignitaries” will be able to sign marriage certificates.

In case you were wondering if “ecclesiastical” could refer to anyone who wasn’t a Christian, it can’t.

This bill, most likely, has no chance of becoming law so it isn’t really worth a lot of bile.

And yet we see the ugliness in the desire to prevent gay people from entering into a legally binding marriage.  Not only would this bill prevent homosexuals from being married unless they could find a supportive Christian minister, it would prevent Muslims, Jews, atheists and every other group from legal marriage.

Before I say the homily, I just wanted to welcome all the same-sex, atheist, Jewish and Hindu couples who have suddenly converted to Catholicism.

He’s willing to discriminate against everyone to make sure gays can’t get married.

But don’t call him a homophobe because that’s offensive.

Rapist Blames Campus Culture of Sexuality

We have an unconscious young woman who was sexually assaulted by at least four Vanderbilt football players.

I suppose I should be happy this dude isn’t blaming the victim.  He wouldn’t want to do that, you see, because he claims he is the victim.

He was drunk, you see, and that meant his judgement was impaired.  Also, there is a lot of loose morality on college campuses so he….didn’t have the right role models, I guess?

He was drunk. That is no more of an excuse for being unable to stop yourself from raping as it is an excuse for being unable to stop yourself from driving.  I’ve never heard a defense attorney claim their client couldn’t help driving home because they were too drunk to know they shouldn’t.

Something doesn’t magically become less wrong because your judgement is impaired.  And I’m pretty sure that randy college dorms aren’t the reason a bunch of guys decide to rape an unconscious victim.

They do it because they are assholes.

In the UK, a Judge Orders a Father To Take His Kids to Church

I’m not sure why the judge in this case thought it was a good idea to order a father to take his son to church when it wasn’t something requested by the estranged wife.

It would appear it was done simply because the judge felt the child needed some religion in his life since the father and the mother – who is not – isn’t bringing the kid to church enough.  Or something equally dumb.

I’m sure the real reason the judge made the order it to help educate the young man about architecture.

Now I don’t know if what the judge did is legal.  I have to hope it isn’t and an appellate court will overturn the order.

What should really happen, though, is this judge shouldn’t be allowed to sit in family court because he clearly crossed the line when he made faith decisions for the parents.  Whether or not this kid goes to any kind of mass should be up to his mother and father, not a judge with a misplaced concept of what he can actually force people to do.

I think this is a problem with the idea of proselytizing in general.  Teaching people converting other people to your point of view is essential to be a righteous person yields people like this judge who feel they are bound by god to save this kid from his atheist father.

I’m going to point out there is an online petition you can sign.  And you should.  Because this is all sorts of bullshit.

Pastor is Convicted of Molesting his Grandchildren after God Cured Him

The pastor in question had already molested his own children but he somehow managed to convince them that he had been possessed by a demon and was free from his horrible, unholy desires.

No doubt, the demon came back and it wasn’t his own fault.  Even if it was his fault, god has probably forgiven him again.

So let’s be clear – this guy would be a pedophile whether or not he was a pastor.  The difference is being a pastor put him into a position of power and trust that made it easier for him to find and exploit victims.

Society places religious leaders in a position of power and then assumes because they are spiritual leaders, they are above mortal failings.  We are shocked time and again when our faith is betrayed because being a religious leader doesn’t exempt you from being flawed.

Anti Vax Parents Would Rather Have Their Kids Miss School Than be Vaccinated

With a measles outbreak putting their unvaccinated children at risk, some parents have been told to keep their children home.  Because – you know – their stupid pseudoscientific belief in the harm vaccines can cause is somehow worse than the harm we know measles can cause.

That’s bad enough.  But just read what one parent said about the measles shot:

“It’s the worst shot,“ she said, with tears in her eyes. “Do you want to wake up one morning and the light is gone from her eyes with autism or something?“

OK, lady.  Speaking as the father of two kids on the spectrum – fuck you.

The light has gone out of their eyes?  Do you actually know anyone on the spectrum, lady?

Look at this dude! He has Asperger’s and the light has totally gone out of his eyes!

My kids are great kids full of energy and life and love.  They just have trouble with social interactions because they don’t pick up on the subtle cues the rest of us can read without even thinking about it.  They aren’t some sort of irreparably damaged stepford children.

Even if vaccines caused autism, which they fucking don’t, I’d vaccinate my kids all over again because I have first hand knowledge that autism is way better than polio.

Some Random Click Bait About The Worst National Parks

Yes, this article is click bait.  But I love the National Park system and I’m not going to let someone suggest my tax dollars are being wasted just because they don’t like a couple of National Parks.

Now I know if you are rating parks top to bottom, some parks have to come out near the bottom.  That doesn’t mean, however, that they suck.

Putting the Badlands in the bottom five, however, makes me see just a little bit of red because I’ve been there multiple times and I’d go again.

Not only is the scenery beautiful and not, as the writer calls it, “a dusty monument to erosion,” it is also great for wildlife viewing.

I never found it all that dusty either.  Maybe he went on a windy day?

He must hate wildlife in general because he also hates on Wind Cave.  He doesn’t like the cave because it lacks the Stalactites and Stalagmites that he assumes are what makes a cave interesting.  He also didn’t enjoy the Bison, Elk, Pronghorn and Prairie dog populations that make the above ground portion of the park such a treat.

Then there’s this fun fact from the article:

Fun Fact: Lunatic hunters enjoy “misting” prairie dogs by shooting them with high-caliber hollow-point bullets (although hopefully not within in the park boundaries)

Those hunters aren’t lunatics.  They are sadistic.  And I’m so glad you hope they don’t do it within park boundaries but shouldn’t they refrain from doing it at all????