And it’s not like I read a bunch of conservative blogs.  Okay, I still follow a few conservatives on twitter, but this is like in the mainstream news, so it’s virtually unavoidable.

No one is saying that we have a constitutional right to marriage.

What we have is a constitutional right to be treated equally by the law.

That means, you can’t give one group of people government recognized unions with lots of legal and financial benefits and deny it to another group of people just because what they do in the bedroom makes you feel icky (or secretly turned on).

This is very basic constitutional stuff.  Really.  Is it wrong for me to expect more from the people who claim to want to go back to the Constitution?

I guess it’s only wrong if I don’t want to keep getting disappointed.  Because that’s where expecting more seems to lead.

It’s interesting to read the conservative opinions on this ruling, now that I am no longer a bible-believing Christian.

First, let’s have a She’s Right flashback.  I have always supported gay marriage, even though I believed that the Bible defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

…my core beliefs, which are more libertarian conservative than traditionalist conservative, keep me from supporting laws that favor the moral values of one group over another, unless the law is needed to protect the rights of others.

…I realize that, even though I believe in the biblical definition of marriage, not everyone does, but everyone deserves the same legal protections.

But, I did believe that acting on homosexual feelings was a sin (though, weakly in my defense, I did not consider it the worst sin ever, as many evangelicals do.)

Obviously, my political position is the same libertarian position it was then: equal protection under the law and no preference given to Christianity.

Also probably obvious, I don’t think there is anything wrong with homosexuality, now that I don’t believe in the Bible as basis for morality.

I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating, even if I have.  One of the things that made me question Christianity was the fact that what I saw in my personal life, from the gay and lesbian people I know, did not fit with the belief that homosexuality is a sin.

These are good people, caring parents, loving couples.  How can that be sinful?

I think it’s a great day for liberty and humanity that we are a step closer to having laws that treat all people equally and away from having laws that dictate what is sexually moral for consenting adults.

It’s also yet another way in which I realize how free I am, now that I am no longer a Christian.

I don’t have to try to understand why my religion calls good people sinful.

I don’t have to reconcile my conflicting religious and political beliefs.

Finally, what I believe is right legally and what I know is right morally are in harmony – treat everyone with dignity, respect, and equality.

About four years ago, I started making my own soap.  We switched all of our household products for cleaning and beauty to the natural variety.  Dish liquid and dish washer detergent, household cleaners, shampoo, deodorant, laundry soap, and bath soap.  The bath soap was so expensive, I started making it myself.  Soon after, I started making my own make-up.

As it turns out, there is a huge indie beauty industry out there.  Women (and men) like me who make homemade bath and body products that are safe and natural.  Do a search on the popular craft-selling website Etsy for soap and you will be blown away.

Well, it turns out that home soap makers are not the only folks who are concerned about the chemicals in cosmetics.  Congress also cares. So, they made a bill that would make products safer and require truthful labeling – H.R. 5786, the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010.

Side note: anyone who needs a law to make them tell the truth about what’s in their products needs to go back to kindergarten and learn the rules again.  Seriously.

The problem with Congress – wait, I mean one of the problems with Congress – is that it uses a one-size-fits-all approach that lumps small- and micro-businesses in the same category with multi-billion dollar, multi-national cosmetic companies.

In other words, the legislation before Congress now will put the same regulations on the mom making soap in her kitchen to sell on Etsy as it does on the world’s leading cosmetic manufacturers.

These regulations will require too much time and money to comply with for the small cosmetic maker, the one who started her business in order to get away from the products manufactured by the large cosmetic company.  She will no doubt have to shut down her business.

Worse still, so will many others.  That will lead to many of the supply companies for home soap and cosmetic making going out of business as well.

It might not even be possible to make your own products at home for your own home use after that.

I guess this legislation is a big win for big cosmetic, after all.  And a big loss for consumer choice and the freedom to build your own home beauty products business.

I can only hope that the people at the Indie Beauty Network and others can get through to Congress before it’s too late.

You can help.  Go here.  Sign the petition to stop the Safe Cosmetic Act of 2010 and encourage Congress to stop treating small, independent cosmetic businesses the same way they treat large manufacturers.

I have been meaning to post about it since the day I read it, but life has been hectic lately.  It takes some time to settle into the summer schedule.  Even though my kids are homeschooled, they are still very affected by the public school’s summer vacation, thereby dispelling the myths that homeschooled kids are not socialized enough, or so one can hope.

I found this article via an atheist blog (sorry, I forgot which one), but I found it fascinating for what Jillette says about politics.

Although, he did say this interesting thing about religion and stupid, crazy people:

I do believe that a belief in god is crazy, but that doesn’t mean that the people who believe in it are crazy. Those are two different things. Ideas can be stupid and crazy and the people who hold those ideas are not necessarily stupid and crazy.

I think that’s true.  I also think it is refreshing to hear someone who is as outspoken an atheist as Penn Jillette say so.

Now, on to the political.  First, you must know that Jillette is very liberal.  He is no friend of the Tea Party; he is no friend to the Republican Party or President Bush.

My only point was, when you’re arguing with someone, you shouldn’t pretend to know what’s going on in their heart. To say that the only reason the Tea Party is against the president is because they’re racist, I think that’s unfair. We know what racist people look like. They don’t deny it. They just don’t!

…

If the Tea Party isn’t publicly stating “We think people of other races should be treated differently,” then you don’t get to call them racist.

You just don’t hear people on the left making that statement.  I say this all of the time, but because I was an active member of the Republican Party and have libertarian tendencies, it is dismissed.  So, I thought it was great to hear that coming from someone on the left for a refreshing change.

When I disagree with Obama, people always say, “Well, you’re a big Bush guy then.” And I’m like no, I didn’t like Bush either. I disagree with Bush and Obama on all the stuff they agree on, which is pretty much everything. They both want to kill people, they both want the government to be bigger, and they both want less freedom for individuals.

Emphasis, mine.

We’re killing more people under Obama than we did under Bush, and where the fuck is the anti-war movement?

The only difference between Obama and Bush is that Obama is killing more people. He’s about double the numbers now. Can you imagine if McCain had won and did precisely what Obama has done, with every speech and every political maneuver overseas? There’d be riots in the streets about the people we’re killing. And yet because it’s Obama, and he’s better looking and better at reading the teleprompter, we let him get away with it.

Again, emphasis mine because I have said that a million times.  In private, not in blog, but still.  It is so true and, again, refreshing to hear it being said.

Head on over and read the whole thing.  I highlighted the parts I most wanted to bring attention to, but really the entire interview is worth reading.

And if you like what he had to say, be sure to check out Penn Point, his vlog.

“Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma, they end up taking up a hospital bed, it costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early and they got some treatment, and a, a breathalyzer, or inhalator, not a breathalyzer. (crowd laughing) I haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hours.”

I, in my own sleep-deprived state, found that ironically humorous.  See, my son has insurance.  He has regular visits to the pediatrician.  He’s never missed a check-up.  He’s up-to-date on all of his shots.  He even gets yearly flu vaccines, due to his cold-induced asthma.  He has an asthma action plan.  He has an inhaler.

The thing about asthma is that it is, well, unpredictable.  Especially cold-induced asthma that can be worse with a really bad chest cold.  And sometimes the inhaler doesn’t work, even though it did every single time over the past year and a half, since he started having asthma attacks.

The other thing is that sometimes that happens at 10 o’clock at night, when the ER is the only option.

Believe me, both of us would have preferred to be home in bed.

The point of this tale is simple: politicians are not doctors.  Even a politician as intelligent and well-educated as Barak Obama doesn’t know what the hell he is talking about when it comes to why kids with asthma end up in the ER.

Politicians are not doctors.

The decisions about health care policy should not be left to politicians, who, in addition to not being doctors, inevitably end up loading the bills up with a bunch of non-health-related goodies intended to solicit votes.

I’m not afraid of “socialized medicine.”  I’m not afraid of waiting lists.  I don’t think the world is going to end tomorrow if we have a public option.

But, I don’t want politicians – any politicians – deciding whether or not a woman can get an abortion or the morning after pill, or whether some old guy can get Viagra, or whether my son needs to go to the ER for his “treatable illness, like asthma.”

Politicians are not doctors.

That is why I think we should leave health care out of politicians’ hands.

And, by the way, his doctor told us to go to the ER, Mr. President.  I’m sorry if it cost too much.

I scored 8 out of 10.  Actually, it’s 8.5.  There was half of one I didn’t care for, but I support the other half of it.  See if you can guess which two I didn’t like.

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;

(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;

(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

(4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership;

Also, feel free to comment on what MSNBC is calling the GOP’s “purity test.” Do you think it is a good idea to have a so-called purity test? Are these items going to help or hurt the GOP and why?