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Politics : View from the Center and Left

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To: Suma who wrote (587)6/10/2005 10:12:01 AM
From: Lane3  Read Replies (1) of 543967
 
I do think that Gays should be afforded the rights of marriage as defined in the following...

Whether it is considered civil rights or just rights that should be granted to all


There are two separate questions here. One is what rights should be held. The other is the basis upon which they are held. Questioning the basis is not the same as questioning the outcome. I have no quarrel about any of the outcomes you identify. But I'm picky about the basis upon which they are claimed.

People claim all sorts of things as rights. Some claim the right to shelter as a basic human right. Some claim the right to cut to the head of the queue because they're in a hurry. Some claim the right to family membership in a club although the parties aren't married. It's really easy to claim one has the right to something.

So what rights do we really have? We have the rights that are specified in the Constitution and in law. Those rights are enforceable. If they're not enforceable, we can claim until we're blue in the face and all we have is a claim and a raw throat.

I appreciate your wanting rights for gays. I think they should have them, too. But for them to be real they must be appropriately codified somewhere. Claiming a right doesn't make it real. Perceiving that the right should exist does not make it real. Getting rights appropriately codified is a necessary and complicated process that taxes the patience of those who want to just "make it so."
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