A Declaration of Spiritual Independence

I renounce the Christian religion.

And now I shall explain what I mean by that statement.

Christianity, or the Christian religion, as it is known by its own broadest consensual theology over history, is a life lived in community for the service of the Christ. That, at least, is the Christian religion in its highest and idealist form. It is not, however, what I have experienced.

I have been abused, exploited, manipulated, and now disposed of by high-ranking leaders of this community, in blatant defiance of Christian teachings, and, in fact, their own interpretations thereof. I have seen my family impoverished to fill the bellies of many a fat cleric, and labored long and hard to serve not the cause of Christ, but the earthly ambitions of these fraudulent priests. I have burned away years of my life that I shall never regain because I mistakenly believed that I was serving a God, when I was actually serving men. And now because I have actually lived according to the principles that these same men taught, they have cast me out of their midst.

These people who are called clergy place themselves between God and men and tell all that they are the intermediaries. They claim that they have authority over other men -- including me -- and I am to do their will if I am to be faithful to God. And the communities that they have built around themselves serve no greater role than to bring profit to themselves and to stifle the voices of individuals who see hypocrisy among these same self-proclaimed holy men. And they have asserted that no true Christianity can be found alone, but only in the judgmental, manipulative presence of others.

I reject the concept of earthly spiritual authority.

I reject the concept of earthly intermediaries between gods and men.

I reject the concept that a spiritual life must be lived in community.

I reject the concept that I exist to serve the needs of other people.

I am a human being. And in that, I am a precious thing. I am beautiful and valuable and important.

I am not disposable or expendable. I am not a sacrifice on anyone's altar or mule for anyone's burdens.

And I refuse to be treated as though I am.

Therefore I leave the destruction of the Christian life. It is not within my power to take back the years that have been burned away in that cult, but it is within my power to ensure that I am not abused by Christianity ever again.

Why Now?
Many years ago, before I met my wife, I was in love with a girl. This girl, whom I shall call pseudonymously "Annie", I met in my senior year of college. She was my first girlfriend, and I fell madly (and by that I mean 'insanely') in love with her.

A man in love for the first time may do many foolish things, and I was no exception. Convinced that she was the one true love of my life, I sacrificed my career and moved across the country to be with her. It was not something that she approved of. In truth, she was not interested in a serious relationship. Still, we stayed together for two years -- two years in which I lived in constant terror that she was going to break up with me -- before she dumped me.

And then I found myself in a strange city, working a low-wage job, having wasted two years of my life and so many opportunities because I loved Annie in a way that was unhealthy and unrealistic.

For at least a year afterwards, I kept on telling myself that I had made the right decision to be with her, in spite of the terrible cost. I rationalized my error in very imaginative ways. I desperately wanted to convince myself that I had not willingly destroyed my own future through my own foolishness.

But eventually, I could no longer deceive myself: I had screwed up terribly by getting involved with this girl, and the entire relationship had been a disaster. What minor benefits I had gained were massively outweighed by the horrible costs.

The Hayek quote in the header of my blog reads "We shall not grow wiser before we learn that much that we have done was very foolish." In short, we cannot learn from our mistakes unless we are willing to admit that we have made them. I was not able to learn from my time with Annie until I was able to get to the mental plane where I accepted that I should never have been with her in the first place.

In a similar vein, I wish to avoid future years of cognitive dissonance justifying the past several years of Christianity in which I vainly search for some reason to justify my past foolishness. I could continue to try to get ordained in other Conferences or denominations, or I could be an active lay member of a church and continue to pour time and money into the black hole that is the Christian life...or I could go ahead and admit the obvious truth that, for me, Christianity has been a disaster.

And I'm ready to stop fooling myself otherwise.

An Olive Branch
I am aware that only some of a great many Christian leaders have abused me, and certainly their numbers do not represent more than the tiniest fraction of Christians worldwide. And I am aware that I have been given great love and compassion by Christian friends in response to the injustices that I have suffered. I do not, therefore, rule out the possibility that the Christian religion may reconcile itself to me.

But the abuse and exploitation is over, now and forever. I will not tolerate it. As the wronged party, I alone determine the terms for reconciliation. The Church must therefore come to me, on my terms, and none other.

I am unwilling to waste my time with fruitless conversations or invitations to various congregations so that I can continue to be exploited by other branch offices of the same operation. Therefore, any person, congregation, or other Christian group that wishes to reconcile Christianity with me must pay me $204,500 (USD 2008), which is my rough estimate of our financial losses alone from the past three and a half years, prior to beginning any negotiations with me about rejoining Christianity.

I would take this gesture as a sign of good faith that the Church does not view me as simply a resource to exploit.

I offer this opportunity because I am a generous person and am quick to forgive the penitent.

Why Not Other Churches?
Like Pete Townshend said, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Most Christians regard other denominations as fellow travellers on the same mission. They are, in essence, branch offices of the same company. And they feature the same problems: earthly spiritual authority, mandatory community, and mandatory exploitation of time and money.

I have no reason to believe that any other denomination is different. "Ah, but you have no reason to think that they are the same." True, but the burden of proof is not me. The burden of proof is on the Church -- on Christianity -- to prove itself worthy of me. Why? Because my life is mine, and mine alone, and I do not give it to any passing stranger. I declare that Christianity must prove itself worthy of me to have me, therefore it is so.

At any rate, how many times must I go through this hell? How many years must I fritter away while one church after another proves itself false? How many Churches must I allow to exploit me? For me, one is one too many, and I'm stopping here. I'm not going any further and exploring other UMC Conferences or denominations or non-denominational churches, and letting one after another abuse and exploit me as I grow only older and poorer.

Writers and commenters have urged me to go to other Conferences and denominations for more "ministry opportunities". So I should go, hat in hand, to beg other panels of prelates across the country for an opportunity, years from now (if I do everything right) to be the pastor of a church?

No. I will not.

I have a family to feed, and my wife and daughter deserve better than to have me force them into poverty so that I can continue to chase rainbows. And I deserve better than a life of fearful slavery before "holy men" who may, at any moment, destroy years of my hard work for their own amusement or convenience.

So In Conclusion
Until such time as Christianity decides that it wants me and is willing to act accordingly, I journey alone.

I do not rule out a relationship with Jesus. I love Jesus, even though so many of his followers -- particularly those who claim to have been left in charge until he returns -- are complete assholes. Jesus is welcome in my home. The Church, however, is not. Not now; not ever again.

On my voter registration card, I am listed as an independent. And I am -- a political independent.

So what I am now, religiously speaking? I am a spiritual independent. I have no affiliation to any organized religion. I call no human being master, mentor, or leader.

I alone determine spiritual truth for myself. I may take the ideas of others, or I may reject them. I may worship the gods of others, or those of my own creation -- or none at all. That will be for me alone to determine.

For I am, and therefore I will it so.

A Romantic Comedy for Men

I would pay $8 to see this triumphant love story on the big screen.

Via Stress Penguin.

Geography and Friendships in the Digital Age

Urlesque has the story of a funny e-mail exchange between two men. Here's the story: a man discovers a note from his new neighbor, explaining that he will be having a party and hopes that it doesn't get too noisy. And if does, all the man must do is let him know.

The man is furious that his neighbor is having a party and has gone to the trouble to make out a note on nice stationery, but won't invite him.

What I found interesting about this exchange is how it typifies the transcendance of geography in interpersonal relationships. In the 21st Century world of telecommunications, your social networks have far less to do with geographic proximity than interests and other intrinsic commonalities.

I've moved far, far too often in the 10.5 years since I graduated from college, and only in one apartment did I know any of my neighbors by name. In fact, apartment living may actually encourage this disconnection. Apartment neighbors live in such close proximity that they might maintain a certain interpersonal distance in order to respect each other's privacy, in a way that homeowners on half-acre lots do not need so greatly.

So the new neighbor's note is not really that odd in a social world where one's networks are fragmented into many microcultures instead of a few major monocultures. Thanks to telecommunications technology, we now have the option to find precisely who we wish to socialize with, instead of simply finding common ground with those with whom, through chance, we share geographic proximity.

It is not reasonable for a person to be angry at a neighbor for having a completely independent social life, as the concept of geographic neighbor has eroded greatly.

Best Films of 2008

These are the best movies that were not necessarily made in 2008, but that I watched for the first time in 2008.

Kill Bill, v.1,2. (2003, 2004) For much of the year, I was, shall we say, in the mood for Quentin Tarantino's epic tale of revenge. Tarantino is such a great film maker because he feels no obligations to comply with the conventions of modern cinema. He executes his vision exactly as he envisions it in exacting detail. True art begins when you don't care what other people think. Another fantastic Tarantino film: Death Proof.

Sin City. (2005) A translation of Frank Miller's saga of the very depths and the very heights of human morality and experience. Sin City shows humanity at is very best and very worst -- and everything in between. Rewatching it recently, I was struck by this line by the corrupt Senator Roarke, which reminded me of my District Superintendent: "Power don't come from a badge or a gun. Power comes from lying. Lying big and gettin' the whole damn world to play along with you. Once you've got everybody agreeing with what they know in their hearts ain't true, you've got 'em by the balls. Everyone would lie for me. Everyone who counts. Otherwise, their own lies — everything that runs Sin City — it all comes tumbling down like a pack of cards." The DCOM didn't just end my candidacy. Four members in particular were actually enraged by my truth-telling. Senator Roarke's explanation is precisely why.

Annie Hall. (1977) I love Woody Allen, and finally got around to seeing what is thought to be his best film. I'm not convinced that it's better than Sleeper, but it's very good. Like Tarantino, Allen's work is punctuated by long conversations between characters about ordinary topics that are somehow profoundly interesting. Annie Hall is the tale of a minor comedian who forms a great relationship with a girlfriend, and then wrecks it because the relationship is not absolutely perfect. Besides, the entire movie was worth it just for the single line "Sex with you is a very Kafka-esque experience."

What was your favorite movie from 2008?

Question of the Day

Do you see yourself as a Moe, a Larry, or a Curly?

My New Invention

I think that any parent can see the immediate applications of this new stroller accessory. In fact, it's amazing that no one has thought of this before.

With a six pound rifle and a two pound scabbard on one side, it does throw the balance off a bit. Like an old shopping cart.

Note that in the event of a zombie attack, you really are better off just picking up the baby and running. A stroller will only slow you down.

Favorite Web Comics

I've a few that I check out regularly. Lately, I've been perusing the archives of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. Here's an example of Zach Weiner's work:


I also like the humor of Married to the Sea, a juxtaposition of old catalog and historical images with irreverent captions by Drew and Natalie Dee:


Max Cannon's Red Meat isn't a web comic, as it originated in print, but I enjoy its macabre humor enough to mention it here:


What is your favorite web comic?

Question of the Day

Do you find public breastfeeding acceptable or tacky?

Question of the Day

A couple of days ago, I watched the old Spencer Tracy film Judgment at Nuremberg, and it got me thinking about collective moral responsibility.

Is there such a thing as legitimate guilt for an action that a person has no indirect involvement in? For example, does an ordinary German born after 1945 have some guilt or moral debt to Holocaust survivors, or does an American born in the 21st Century bear some guilt or moral debt to Native Americans?

My Escape from the Cult of the United Methodist Church

"Wait -- did he just say 'cult'?"

Yes, and this is an inflammatory term. Permit me to explain:

Over the past several months as I have seen my religious (and other) world turned upside down, I read and heard various accounts of people who had escaped religious groups that are popularly known as cults, such as Jim Jones' People's Temple and the Jehovah's Witnesses, and I heard them speak thoughts that were strikingly similar to my own. And I wondered why.

I have come to realize that among religions, there is no sharp, hard line between cult and non-cult. Rather, cults are religions which display particular exploitative and manipulative tendencies in far greater prevalence than these tendencies may be found in non-cult religions, but that these tendencies may still be found in those religions not widely thought of as cults.

So when I say that I have escaped/am escaping from the cult of the United Methodist Church, I am referring to particular exploitative and manipulative behaviors that I found among some leaders that I encountered in the UMC.

1. The abuse of spiritual authority for personal power. I've mentioned this before, but on several occasions, I have heard a person in a formal (or self-appointed) position of spiritual mentor or leader put on some (fake) kindly smile and express "concerns" about my "need for spiritual maturity", particularly when I'm in some sort of disagreement with this person. No argument, no reason, no logic -- just the weaponization of the language of pastoral care and spiritual leadership as a tool to gain advantage in an interpersonal conflict. There are times when someone is trying to be a pastor to you, and there are times when someone is trying to manipulate you. And I think that you know the difference.

2. The call for enormous sacrifice of time and money. When I think about how much money I have poured down the hole of ministry in the past three and a half years -- lost income, seminary costs, candidacy costs -- wow. Not to speak about all of the time that I spent occupied in church, candidacy assignments, and schoolwork. Why, just the weeks I poured into those now-useless commissioning essays....Well, you get my point. In terms of time and money, I have wasted the past three and a half years and all of the money that Katherine and I could have earned, rather than spent, with them. I could have learned real skills, like MS Excel, instead of pointless ones, like NT Greek. All of this at the call of the UMC, which exploited me in terms of labor and money, and has now thrown me away like a used Kleenex. Now that I have nothing left to be exploited, I now find myself quite disposable. If you think about it, it's not that different from time spent taking Scientology courses and paying a lot of money in order to become an Operating Thetan. Because right now all of the books that I have read in seminary are as useful as a stack of badly-written L. Ron Hubbard novels.

3. Social isolation from outsiders. This is not something that the UMC pushes directly, but is the inevitable result of serious involvement in the UMC as a layperson, or candidacy for the ordained ministry. I remember very clearly the day I decided to give up playing role-playing games because I needed to become more involved in church. That, and when I quit my job before entering seminary, is when I cut off my ties from the non-Christian world. And in seminary, I never had time to get back into gaming because school and church devoured all of my time, and therefore cut me off from outsiders. For almost all of seminary, I did not know socially a single non-Christian, and very few non-Methodists.

And now that the UMC has thrown me out, I find myself completely alone. The connections with non-Christians that I had before are gone. Socially speaking, I'm now starting over completely from scratch. And since I'm too old to game and don't remember how, I have no idea how to even get started. Thanks, UMC!

4. No accountability for leaders. The Bishop did not even pretend to make an investigation or question my DS about my allegations, or even verify from my old PPRC chair about what I said happened at my church. The Discipline -- the book of Methodist law -- is just for show.

There is, however, brutal accountability for those who question the officers of the cult. Again, there was no effort by the DCOM to pretend that I was facing anything other than pure retaliation.

Come to think of it, the Bishop may actually be pleased if I told everyone here on the blog about everything that happened, and named names. Maybe by obliterating a candidate with a blog he was sending a message to anyone who might question the leaders of the cult. I mean, realistically, what consequences could he actually face? Please don't quote the Discipline in response. For the powerful, it's nothing more than a paperweight.

There were not, however, any signs of ritualized sexual exploitation, suicide pacts, criminality, imminent doomsday predictions, or statements of exclusivity (e.g. "Non-UMs go to Hell") in the United Methodist Church. And the behaviors that I describe above were not pervasive or universal. So it cannot be said that the UMC is comparable to, let us say, the Children of God or Aum Shinrikyo.

What I mean to say is this: the activities, traits, and behaviors that destroy people's lives in the most obvious cults are not shielded from mainstream Christian denominations by some mystical firewall. These behaviors, if unnoticed and unstopped, can creep into the blandest of churches.

That's because religions, cult and non-cult alike, are filled with people. And people abuse, manipulate, and exploit others if they are not accountable. That's just the sort of creatures that we are. That's why the United Methodist Church is just as capable of destroying lives as any other group -- and will, if the abuse of power and the power to abuse are unstopped.

Two of My Favorite Christmas Carols

"Christmas Tauntauns" by Ed Johnson. [Video Link]


"Chiron Beta Prime" by Jonathon Coulton. [Video Link]

The First Lady of Star Trek Dies

Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the First Lady of Star Trek, died this past week of leukemia at the age of 76. The was the only cast member to appear in all six Star Trek television serieses. The was tremendously popular among fans and known for her warm and generous personality.

What was your favorite Majel Barrett Roddenberry role?
	Nurse Christine Chapel
	First Officer "Numer One" in the Original Pilot
	The Computer Voice
	Lwaxana Troi
	M'Ress in the Animated Series
pollcode.com free polls

I Am No Longer a Candidate for the Ordained Ministry in the United Methodist Church

Today, the District Committee on the Ordained Ministry terminated my candidacy for the ordained ministry.

They did so explicitly in retaliation for my reporting of the corrupt activities of my District Superintendent.

In fact, it's amazing how brazen they were their reasoning. They didn't even pretend to be acting as Christians. They didn't hide their rationale. Nor did they, or the District Superintendent, dispute a single detail of my allegations against the DS.

It was all about power and protecting the institution from criticism.

So, three and a half years of my life, hundreds and thousands of dollars, and enormous efforts by me and my family are now poured down the drain because of shameless corruption in the Church.

I thought about writing on this blog everything that the District Superintendent did, and the resulting cover-up by the Bishop, but I have relatives in the UMC. And they have asked that I not name names or go into detail on my blog because they fear retaliation. And given the mafia tactics that I have seen in the Church, this does not strike me as an unreasonable fear.

Primer: A Great Film about Time Travel

At the suggestion of commenters, I have watched the 2004 indie film Primer. Verily, it is awesome!

[Video Link] It is a movie about time travel, and is very similar in plot and premise to The Man Who Folded Himself. Run time: 1 hour, 17 minutes.

Preparation for Parenting

I had never changed a diaper or engaged in any other baby care until my daughter arrived. But my wife and I found that owning our dog and rabbits was good preparation for caring for another non-communicative life. This Cracked video explains how:

Worst Parents Ever -- powered by Cracked.com

Mild language warning.

"The Whore of Mensa" by Woody Allen

I recently ran across one of my favorite short stories: "The Whore of Mensa" by Woody Allen. I've long enjoyed his film work, and this story was no exception. It's a parody of hard-boiled detective stories. I won't spoil the rest for you.

You can read the whole thing here.

Question of the Day

Should young children be taught to believe in Santa Claus?

I Love Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

SMBC is my new favorite webcomic. This is the webcomic that I most wish I had the talent to create. SMBC's erratic sense of humor is just my style.

RC Helicopter with a .45 Pistol Attached

[Video Link] I don't know who made this video, or modified the tiny helicopter in it. But I have a sneaking suspicion that Jeff the Baptist is involved in this somehow. Mechanical engineers with a puckish sense of humor tend to build things like this.

HT: Geekologie

Zombie Personal Ads

An obsolete approach, if you ask me. Most zombies use Craig's List these days. HT: Urlesque

"...in bed."

Misfortune Cookie
[Video Link] Misfortune Cookie is a short film about three jerks who anger the staff of a Chinese restaurant a little too much, and receive cursed fortune cookies as punishment. Run time: 6 minutes.

FYI

My wife hates it when I play "Dukes of Hazzard" with the baby stroller. She says that it's reckless. I say, when the law is on you tail and the bridge it out, you do what you got to do.

The Difference Between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Every Other Politician in America, from President to Assistant Dog Catcher

He got caught.

Question of the Day

Is smoking tobacco a sin?

It's Like Interpretive Dance, But Focused on Marital Bickering

At least, that is the way that I would describe this hilarious 1954 clip from Sid Caesar's variety show, in which Caesar and an actress silently argue to the rhythm of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

[Video Link] HT: TigerHawk

Weekend Music: "I Google You"

"I Google You" is a mournful love song by Neil Gaiman, here peformed by Amanda Palmer. The singer remembers a lost love by occasionally Googling his/her name.


[Video Link] I remember actually doing this years back, about an ex-girlfriend, for a little while. Then I had the good sense to stop. Anyway, here are the lyrics:

I Google you
late at night when I don’t know what to do
I find photos
you’ve forgotten
you were in
put up by your friends

I Google you
when the day is done and everything is through
I read your journal
that you kept
that month in France
I’ve watched you dance

And I’m pleased your name is practically unique
it’s only you and
a would-be PhD in Chesapeake
who writes papers on
the structure of the sun
I’ve read each one

I know that I
should let you fade
but there’s that box
and there’s your name
somehow it never makes the pain
grow less or fade or disappear
I think that I should save my soul and
I should crawl back in my hole
But it’s too easy just to fold
and type your name again
I fear
I google you
Whenever I’m alone and feeling blue
And each scrap of information
That I gather
says you’ve got somebody new
And it really shouldn’t matter
ought to blow up my computer
but instead….
I google you

HT: Neatorama

Question of the Day

Is abortion compatible with Christian teaching?

The Green Feminine and the Red Masculine

Brown University researchers determined that randomly selected people tend to associate green skin tones with women and red skin tones with men, once other gendered traits had been removed from the computer-generated faces that they were shown. This may say more about the cultural norms of the test subjects than anything intrinsic about gender, but it is an interesting result.

It would certainly explain the allure of Orion slave girls, whose dark green skin may create a sense of hyperfemininity among men in their vicinity.


[Video Link]

I do, however, find these results rather dubious, as they do not explain how my entirely blonde-haired, blue-eyed wife is so freakin' hawt.

About the Changes to My Blog

I've changed the name and forms of my blog to reflect the different mental space I now occupy. The name "The Zeray Gazette" is a reference to the Richard Adams novel Shardik. The header image is "The Dream", a painting by Henri Rousseau. And the Hayek quotation reflects my desire, now that my worldview is in great flux, to resist cognitive dissonance and honestly face the new information entering into my life.

I have learned that the United Methodist Church, and the Church in general, is not what I thought that it was. But if the Bishop thinks that I'm going to be a good little soldier, keep my mouth shut, and participate in his coverup, he's in for a nasty surprise.

Question of the Day

So...where's my money?

"I have altered our deal. Pray that I do not alter it any further."

For some reason, this Robot Chicken video made me immediately think of the UMC candidacy process.

[Video Link]

Except, you know, for the last part when Vader is reasonable and consistent.

Any Lawyers Read This Blog?

Let's say that one person accidentally stumbles upon one of those insane "zombie walks". You know -- where people put on studio-grade makeup so that they really look like zombies in every way. And even smell like them. And let's say that this person shoots a person thus disguised and kills him. Is the fact that the person thought that the moron dressed up as a zombie really was a zombie a defense against murder charges?

A prompt answer would be very, very appreciated.

A USB-Powered Self-Destruct Device for Your Computer

I must acquire one for my computer. I’d love to re-enact the self-destruct scene from the classic Star Trek episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." Or better yet, hook it up to someone else's computer and re-enact the scene.


[Video Link]

Via Double Plus Undead

The Theme Song to Aqua Teen Hunger Force If It Was a Country Music Song

I heard this on one of the DVD compilations a few years back, but have only now found it online.

[Video Link] In a way, it's kind of soft and romantic. I can imagine Alan Jackson doing this.

American Dad on Evangelism

Stan Smith makes a new best friend -- only to find out that he's an atheist. Stan's solution is to destroy his life so that in the subsequent emotional crisis, the friend will become a Christian and will go to heaven when he dies.

[Video Link]

Question of the Day

How do you know that she's a witch?

The Nazi Time Traveler

[Video Link] Sooner Or Later is a Hungarian short film that takes place in the last days of Nazi Germany. Scientists have developed a serum that may allow a person to travel through time. They inject it into a test subject. Subtitled in English, Run time: 11 minutes.

Via Metafilter

Question of the Day

Is it ethical for a Christian to invest in a company that either:

A. manufactures weapons?

B. manufactures pornography?

C. grows tobacco?

D. pays many of its workers only minimum wage?

Welcoming Jesus

Question of the Day

Is masturbation a sin?

The Chainsaw Bayonet

As I've stated before, I'm not a fan of the chainsaw as an anti-zombie weapon. But I am intrigued by this variant: a small chainsaw mounted on a semi-automatic rifle as a bayonet.

[Video Link] It would make the rifle absurdly heavy, but it would also provide some safety in the event that a zombie gets within four or five feet -- when the rifle would become ineffective.

It'll be years before I get a gun, largely because of the start-up costs (e.g. rifle, training, ammunition, gun safe), but I still have my lustful eyes on the Marlin 1894c .357/.38. And I'm coming to think that it would actually a better anti-zombie weapon than the Max Brooks-endorsed M1 Carbine. Why? Just try finding .30 carbine ammo in a sporting goods store. If you take a chance and smash your way into a sporting goods store in a zombie-infested town, you have a lot better chance of finding .38 ammunition than .30 carbine.

But, of course, I am still an armchair rifleman and am only speculating.

Hat tip to Confederate Yankee via Ace.

The Privatization of Marriage

Richard Epstein recently trotted out an old libertarian talking point after the victory of Proposition 8 in California, effectively banning gay marriage. He suggested that marriage should be a wholly private activity and that there's no need for government involvement. Indeed, for most of American history, marriages were church, not government activities, and there was no need for a marriage license.

Why not go back to those halcyon days of yore and let individuals decide for themselves how to define their marriages?

One reason: divorce.

A couple might have a church or other commitment ceremony to publicly announce their permanent relationship to family and friends, and this can be a non-legal transaction.

But divorce -- the disposition of estate and custody of children, is inextricably a legal activity. And because divorce is a legal action, the marriage necessarily proceeds it is also a legal activity -- or else a person could escape a negative divorce settlement by simply claiming to have never been truly married in the first place. Or, for that matter, than various causes for divorce (e.g. adultery) are inapplicable because fidelity is a not accepted as a requirement for marriage in the opinion of the divorcee.

Like any good Pavlovian libertarian, I start salivating whenever I hear the word "privatize", but I just don't see how the privatization of marriage is feasible.

But what I would like to see is a Constitutional amendment removing marriage from being subject to the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article 4, Section 1) so that individual states can define marriage as they like. This way, states that want gay marriage can have it, and those that don't, won't. And homosexuals who want to get married can move to a state that permits it. States that allow gay marriage can be laboratories of democracy, testing whether or not it has positive, negative, or no consequences for society at large.

HT: Instapundit

Legalizing Gay Marriage: A Different Perspective

I wouldn't be a good libertarian if I didn't have a reckless disregard for the consequences of my knee-jerk public policy positions. But some people think that this is not necessarily a good thing. Go figure.

I recently wrote about gay marriage, to which Jeff the Baptist responded by linking to this post by Megan McArdle.

McArdle's very, very long post is basically this point: beware of the unintended consequences of radical public policy changes. And legalizing gay marriage would be simply unprecedented in human history. Who knows what could happen to society by suddenly changing the role of gender in marriage. Good point. McArdle writes:

My only request is that people try to be a leeetle more humble about their ability to imagine the subtle results of big policy changes. The argument that gay marriage will not change the institution of marriage because you can't imagine it changing your personal reaction is pretty arrogant. It imagines, first of all, that your behavior is a guide for the behavior of everyone else in society, when in fact, as you may have noticed, all sorts of different people react to all sorts of different things in all sorts of different ways, which is why we have to have elections and stuff. And second, the unwavering belief that the only reason that marriage, always and everywhere, is a male-female institution (I exclude rare ritual behaviors), is just some sort of bizarre historical coincidence, and that you know better, needs examining. If you think you know why marriage is male-female, and why that's either outdated because of all the ways in which reproduction has lately changed, or was a bad reason to start with, then you are in a good place to advocate reform. If you think that marriage is just that way because our ancestors were all a bunch of repressed bastards with dark Freudian complexes that made them homophobic bigots, I'm a little leery of letting you muck around with it.

I can understand this. Maybe we -- I -- don't have all of the answers, particularly to something as complex as human marriage(s). Maybe we should take a couple generations to think about it.

Why didn't I encounter arguments like this in Florida's gay marriage debate in this past election cycle?

If I had the ballot in front of me again right now, I probably still would vote against the ban. You don't get me to jump into action by shouting "Let's ban X!" But I would vote against the ban with less enthusiasm.

Every 30 Seconds a Man is Hit by a Drunk Driver

This is that man. Mild language warning.

[Video Link]