Nothing should surprise me at this point...

...Yet somehow I'm still shocked by the actions of my state and country. It's hard to believe that in the past century we've gone from a nation that respects marriages and families, honors virtue and shuns immorality to one that treats traditional marriages and families as "old fashioned" and promotes alternative lifestyles as desirable while celebrating immorality as "liberating" and accepting just about anything. It's all in the name of freedom. Of course, someone opposing any of this (using the same exact freedom of speech right given in the First Amendment) is using hate speech. How can we possibly stand up for what we believe is right, even though we know most people won't listen or care, when we have to worry that our opinions and beliefs aren't politically correct? And that worry is legitimate, since in other countries (even are own) people are being sued or even arrested for expressing such opinions and beliefs. Are we next?

Here's a sample of the headlines of the day that sent me reeling:
-Since the Supreme Court of California started allowing same sex marriages, marriage licenses there have been reworded a bit. The licenses used to have spaces for the names and information for the bride and groom (shocking). Now, as you can see here, the offending terms "bride" and "groom" have been replaced with the genderless (and thus PC) terms "party A" and "party B." I guess there goes my chance of being a bride...

-The US 9th Circuit Court's battle against pornography was put on hold when Justice Alex Kozinski was found with porn on his personal web site. Apparently he didn't know people could see the material, but don't worry, his site is now blocked. The article, here, goes on to discuss just how "normal" porn has become: roughly 2/3 of men and 1/2 of women think viewing pornography is acceptable, and 9 out of 10 men and 3 out of 10 women admit to viewing it. Who cares that it degrades the sexual relationship, which should be intimate and tender, to something harsh and erotic; who cares that it makes women into "toys" designed to please men; it's perfectly normal to view.

I really don't want people to take this the wrong way and accuse me of hate speech. I just think it's ironic that for years we've heard "live and let live" from the alternative lifestyle front, and now that they've gained an inch, they've taken a mile. I'm all for "live and let live." Just understand this: I have just as much right under the Constitution to believe in the traditional family and raise one, and teach my children what I believe to be true, as you do to teach your own opinions and beliefs. Please don't try to take that right away from me, or you'll be a hypocrite.

In the meantime, California is looking a lot less attractive these days.