Thursday Thoughts - Observations

Some of the same people, who want to "redefine" what marriage is, have a problem with the multi-wife situation in the new reality show Sister Wives.  What's the big deal?  The family members seem committed to each other and everyone seems pretty happy, including the kids, and there appears to be no child brides/child abuse.  Now they are being investigated by law enforcement because they might be breaking some laws, even though it is reported that the husband is only legally married to one woman. Apparently in Utah there is a law that includes co-habitation as polygamy. (Watch out all you college kids sharing that house.)



Do I understand this type of relationship?  Would I ever be involved in a marriage like that?  Nope, but I also wouldn't marry someone of the same sex either.

Everyone should be able to marry whomever they want; it's no one else's business.  The only thing I object to is the government requiring a license to marry and extending special benefits not afforded to single people.  Marriage is a religious institution and should stay within those confines and should not be given preferential treatment, regulated, or defined by government.

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Speaking of religion, you probably all heard of the Pew Forum Quiz on religion in American.  Atheists and agnostics scored higher in religious knowledge than white Protestants- 20.9 out of 32 questions. Jews and Mormons came in second and third.

Forty-five percent of Catholics didn't know that the church believes communion wafers and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ during Mass, and 42 percent couldn't name Genesis as the first book of the Bible. Only 47 percent of Protestants could identify Martin Luther as the writer who sparked the Protestant Reformation.  You can see the final report here.

Genesis

This may be why some kids think that the Easter bunny rose from the dead on Easter morning so he could deliver goodie baskets to all the children.

If you want to test yourself against the other Americans, you can take the test here.
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I think it is wonderful when adopted children find their biological parents.  It may not always be a good experience, but I think they should have an idea about their history whether it is for medical reasons or just to fill the void of knowing from where they came.  More often than not, there is a truly poignant story behind the relinquishment of a child. I wrote about my friend's story a couple years ago.

Last week a man discovered that his biological mother was most probably a women who for years had been part of a carnival side show.  She is a bearded lady.  That fact alone would make most people giggle, but as usual there is a bigger story.

She was born a hermaphrodite, part man/part woman, and doctors removed the male parts. Her father capitalized on his unusual daughter by having her work in sideshows.  She was told she could never bear a child.  His father was also a carnival worker who ran off with the baby and abandoned it in a motel several years later.  Her son found her with few clues in an Internet search.

 "I knew it was her as soon as I saw the picture online," he said. "We have a resemblance."


Mother and son have been reunited after over 33 years.  A DNA test is being conducted and the results, they hope, will be announced, where else - on the Maury Povich Show.
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The US President's Chief of Staff  has decided he wants to be mayor of Chicago.  There seems to be a little residency requirement in the way, but when has that ever stopped the inner circle of the Big City?
 
In order to run for office, a candidate must have lived in the city for a least a year, which means Rahm Emanuel should have been a resident of Chicago by February 22 of this year.  Unfortunately, when he left for Washington he leased his house to someone else, so his real home when he comes back to visit is probably a hotel room. The tenants won't give in to his requests to terminate the lease on his former domicile.
 

There's a bit more evidence in this election requirement snafu than his boss had with the question of his birth certificate. Someone only needs to object to his filing by November 30.  Otherwise his name will be placed on the ballot.  Will anyone have the guts to do it?