My views on Texas' issues are simple: I believe that the Government should assist its people financially, but it should try to avoid putting restrictions on a person's perception of values. The polls in the Texas Tribune indicate the opinions of the students attending the University of Texas. However, my problem stems from the results regarding higher education spending and same-sex marriage. I believe that Texas isn't spending enough money on higher education, and the support for allowing same-sex couples to marry is too low, which makes me livid.
Higher education is important. It promotes individualism, and it creates an open environment that welcomes partisan identification; I myself have developed my political ideology from attending courses that inform me of current events. Unfortunately, the Government isn't investing enough money into higher education. In fact, a lackluster 11 percent surveyed saying that the education has improved. Furthermore, of the 800 people who participated in the online poll, 37 percent agreed that Texas isn't spending enough on higher education. I would support the idea of investing more money into higher education, but I would have to halt my passionate idea. The legislature would have to meet to discuss its budget. If the opportunity arises, then I'm all set to promote an increase on higher education. Unfortunately, candidates fear a large increase in spending because it affects their constituencies. Money doesn't magically come from a money stork, who hands out money from his money tree. It comes out of the residents' pocket, and that obstacle has proven to be a huge burden in recent years.
The issue of same-sex marriage confuses me. In this modern culture, why are we hesitant in letting people express themselves how they see fit. If we look back to specific time periods, then we would discover similarities to our current form of discrimination against same-sex couples: in the puritan time period, villagers would shun any woman who exposed their ankles or too much thigh. Victorian ideals are a thing of the past, and we embrace individualism. In the past, citizens of these states segregated people based on color; African Americans were assigned designated water fountains. What's the difference between segregating based on color and segregating based on sexual orientation? One involved segregation at public facilities, and its modern incarnation is attempting to segregate in the church. In this article, only 36 percent of the poll's participants agreed on allowing same-sex couples to marry. A civil union does not constitute as a marriage. My liberal side is going into overdrive! I support same-sex marriage because I don't feel it's the Government's business to involve itself in our daily lives.
I have a liberal view on issues, and the Texas Tribune's polls indicate that some people in this red state share the same views as myself. Unfortunately, we are not the majority. My voice is drowned out by the noise of the crashing red waves.
2 comments:
"What's the difference between segregating based on color and segregating based on sexual orientation?". Since many believe this country to be a 'Nation under God', there is a difference in segregation and sexual orientation. As we all know, homophobic Christians just LOVE to refer to the Bible in their arguments against gay marriage. While nothing is explicitly stated about segregation, there are many passages that mention homosexuals, for instance “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” —1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV) Upon taking a closer look at this quote, we see that nearly all of the things that God forbids is no longer in wide-spread practice. It is now very common for 'fornicators' to have pre-marital sex on a regular basis. This is portrayed in almost every movie on the shelves at Blockbuster. In Biblical terms, idolatry is the worship of nature, or the worship of an ancestor or personal hero, which has also become very common. Nearly every person covets for what another has, and this is the reason we strive to be better. And are all of the 6th street frequenters doomed to eternal damnation? These customs may have held true at some point, but it is very obvious that we are a prone to moral change as a human race. Not many people give a single thought when they see inter-racial couples, when in fact this, too, is scrutinized and forbidden by God's word. "You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly." (Deuteronomy 7:3-4) If this is now so largely accepted, same-sex marriage should be as well.
Francisco Gomez wrote a blog post titled "I Side with the Blue" where he comments on the polls found on the Texas Tribune. He found out that based on the polls done at the University of Texas only 11 percent of the people polled thought education had improved and only 37 percent agreed that Texas isn't spending enough on higher education. These numbers don't add up in my opinion. If most people think education is NOT improving, why don't more people think Texas should spend more on higher education? Surely if Texas spent more money on higher education it would be bound to improve more. I think either more people should think education is improving or more people should think Texas should spend more on higher education to get it to improve. I agree with Francisco in that we should invest more money into higher education because it promotes individuality and it creates an open environment that welcomes partisan identification. I also agree that candidates are scared to increase spending too much because their constituents wouldn't want that. Constituents wouldn't want to increase the budget for higher education because it would mean that they would have to pay more out of their pockets to help pay for more of the money going to higher education. If the constituents don't want it, then the candidates won't want it because it means they won’t get elected.
Francisco also wrote that only 36 percent of the people polled agree on allowing same sex couples to marry. I completely agree with Francisco that this is startling and the more I think about it the more angry I become. Francisco and I strongly believe that it is NOT up to the government to decide who is allowed to marry and who isn't Along the same lines as Francisco was writing about, we used to believe that people of the same race should not be allowed to marry. Now we call that racism and discrimination. I believe that making it illegal for same sex couples to marry is also discrimination and it is unreal to me that it is still going on. No matter what our sexual orientation is we are all human beings who deserve to have the same equal rights no matter what.
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