Okay to be gay? Not if you plan to marry.

Wow that was a stretch, even for the titles I come up with. I wonder if the Geneva Convention covers torturous rhyming . . .

Anyway, to the topic at hand: gay marriage and how it affects those of us living in the Great State of Wyoming. Gay marriage is a divisive issue, there’s no doubt about it. With the presidential office at stake, it’s become one of the key talking points for upcoming state and federal elections.

Which is ironic when you think about it, because the lines were clearly drawn in the sand long before vice president Biden put his foot in his mouth. Ever since Ol’ Joe jumped the gun so spectacularly, his stance has been interpreted as an election-making statement, with supporters and opponents alike of gay marriage going so far as to call Obama the first gay president. Ultimately, though, I don’t think that President Obama’s forced support for the issue will cost him voters as some news analysts believe; the influence of the Tea Party in conservative camps has risen in inverse proportion to the amount of time left before the next presidential election, ushering in a starker contrast than normal between Democrat and Republican factions. In fact, the Tea Party has already had more impact than VP Biden by replacing a replacing a long-serving Republican with one of their own, effectively warning conservative legislators that compromise of any sort would mean political suicide. Because, you know, compromise never achieved anything.

Okay then, now that I’ve taken a quick glance at the overarching political structure of the topic at hand, let’s zoom in a little to the Great State of Wyoming. At time of writing, Wyoming upholds its libertarian reputation by having only a statute prohibition against same-sex marriage (although it is interesting to note that the state does have some vaguely-worded domestic partnership benefits).

Contrary to what one columnist claims, I don’t see how anyone can claim to be a bible-believing Christian and be gay, given the unyielding stance on the issue found in both testaments. (Try to take that statement with a grain of salt, since it’s coming from an atheist rather than a biblical “scholar”).

The biggest point which almost everyone seems to be overlooking is that marriage is irrelevant in the 21^st Century, at least as far as the spiritual side of the issue is concerned. No church which claims literal interpretation of the bible would support it, but since the United States supposedly practices a separation of church and state it becomes a question of politics (though conservatives in general and the Tea Party in particular have me believing otherwise). Civil marriage has replaced religious marriage in the United States as the union recognized by the government, so it boils down to whether or not the voters decide to allow the Justice of the Peace to recognize a union.

Yes, I’m cynical about the issue, but it’s not because I’m pessimistic about it one way or another. It’s because I don’t care. A lot of people allow passion to replace reason when debating gay marriage, which in turn means that their arguments are spottier than a leopard afflicted by smallpox. My two cents boil down to this: So long as everyone is of-age and consenting, what or who one does in the privacy of one’s home is none of my damn business, and I am sick to death of activists on both sides trying to make it theirs.

You CAN Go Home Again (And Should)

It’s high time we left Afghanistan. Bin Laden is dead, the Afghan government is rebuilding, and our soldiers are literally going crazy with the stress of too many tours of duty.

Supporters of continued military action say the U.S. is defeating al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and withdrawing troops would be a setback to the war on terrorism. Furthermore, they say that continued U.S. presence there is necessary to make sure the democratic government in Afghanistan will continue.

I’m not saying we should discontinue military action against terrorist networks—quite the opposite, continued operations against them have saved countless lives since the Twin Towers fell. However, the eviction of the Taliban from power signaled the end of the traditional warfare soldiers are meant to fight. It’s past time for the Afghan government to quit holding our hand and actually govern their country. American soldiers have been in Afghanistan for over a decade and worked tirelessly to form a military from the indigenous population (because there is no way that could come back to bite us).

Afghanistan lost all sovereignty the day its government refused to hand over Osama bin Laden—but that government is gone, reduced to a ghost of its former self as it cowers in mountains. Our purpose going into Afghanistan was to remove the Taliban from power, establish a constitutionally-based government, and above all exterminate Osama bin Laden and his followers. We’ve accomplished the first two, and although I won’t say “Mission Accomplished” on the third criteria, a continued combination of drone strikes and pressure from the Afghan military will keep them at bay long enough for the interim government to win the hearts of the people.