David Turner #fundie

David Turner #fundie joplinglobe.com

I have always wondered about the origin of certain words because I believe words should be descriptive and important.
This article uses the word "gay" several times. I have noticed that boys who prefer boys over girls and girls who prefer girls over boys have been successful in getting the public to accept this word into the everyday language of our country.
These people avoid the use of the word "homosexual" as if it were the plague but, to my knowledge, have not found an acceptable replacement for the word "lesbian" in the American vocabulary.
They have also been successful in replacing the word "hetrosexual" with the word "straight".
I raise the questions because the author of this article is concerned with the words "equal" and "rights" and how they appy or do not apply to those of her sexual persuasion.
Does the U S Constitution define marriage or give the "right" to marry to a certain group of humans? I can't find such a "right" and Does the U S Constitution declare all persons "equal" in all matters? I can't find such equality.
It is important to consider the origin of words and why they are used to replace other words and who or what group started using these 'words' to convey a different meaning. I am David Turner.

63 comments

old comment by Reynardine

They have always had slang words for that stuff. In Victorian days, those words were "strange" and "earnest". You can use them now with no fear of being misunderstood. "Gay", in my lifetime, meant "merry", while in my parents' lifetime, "queer" meant "peculiar"; whether these words will revert, I don't know, but you may be sure others will crop up, because "homosexual" and "heterosexual" are bulky clinical concoctions; by the time you get through using them, maybe they've brought your dinner. People come up with lots of slang for lots of things, but especially food, sex, money, drunkenness, toilets, jail, and death. You're not going to stop it, so deal with it.

old comment by gravematter

One syllable is easier to say than five. "Homosexual" was a mental health diagnosis in the mid-20th Century. Is it really surprising that the term "gay" would be the preferred term? The terms "gay" and "straight" have been used for a long time, originally referring, respectively, to a hedonistic and immoral lifestyle, and a straight-laced and "proper" one. Gradually the meaning of these terms changed, but it wasn't gay people that changed them. They did, however, "reclaim" the word "gay", and sought to remove its negative connotations.
Many words are not mentioned in the US Constitution, eg "crocodiles". Does this mean that the authors didn't approve of them?

old comment by Horsefeathers

"I have always wondered about the origin of certain words because I believe words should be descriptive and important."

That's sort of the function of words.

"This article uses the word 'gay' several times. I have noticed that boys who prefer boys over girls and girls who prefer girls over boys have been successful in getting the public to accept this word into the everyday language of our country."

You realize that "gay" was used at least as far back as the early 1900s, right? It had a slightly different meaning, of course, but language tends to evolve with the times.

"These people avoid the use of the word 'homosexual' as if it were the plague but, to my knowledge, have not found an acceptable replacement for the word 'lesbian' in the American vocabulary."

The word "homosexual" is gender independent. Lesbians can also be described as "homosexual," but that would just make finding lesbian porn on the internet more difficult than it needs to be so we just call them "lesbians" instead.

"They have also been successful in replacing the word 'hetrosexual' with the word 'straight'."

You seem to be unfamiliar with this little thing we all like to call "slang" and how it works. While you've got your dictionary out, look it up.

"Does the U S Constitution define marriage or give the 'right' to marry to a certain group of humans? I can't find such a 'right' and Does the U S Constitution declare all persons 'equal' in all matters? I can't find such equality. "

No, it doesn't. Then again, it also doesn't provide "rights" for a great many other things. The Constitution is no the end all, be all, of our legal system, as you may have noticed.

"I am David Turner."

My condolences.

old comment by Mayhem

Hey, how about I change a few words and we can see how this argument sounds from a different perspective.

"I have always wondered about the origin of certain words because I believe words should be descriptive and important.
This article uses the word "African-American" several times. I have noticed that people of dark skin have been successful in getting the public to accept this word into the everyday language of our country.
These people avoid the use of the word "negro" as if it were the plague but, to my knowledge.
They have also been successful in replacing the word "Mexican" with the word "Latino".
I raise the questions because the author of this article is concerned with the words "equal" and "rights" and how they apply or do not apply to those of her different ethnicity.
Does the U S Constitution define race or give the "right" of a certain group of humans to define their race's name? I can't find such a "right" and Does the U S Constitution declare all persons "equal" in all matters? I can't find such equality.
It is important to consider the origin of words and why they are used to replace other words and who or what group started using these 'words' to convey a different meaning. I am David Turner."

old comment by Xotan

"I have always wondered about the origin of certain words...words should be descriptive and important. "

- They are.

"This article uses the word "gay"."

- So? Get over it.

"...boys who prefer boys over girls and girls who prefer girls over boys have been successful in getting the public to accept this word into the everyday language..."

- Boys over girls is 'missionary position'. Girls over boys is regarded as sodomy in some states.

"These people avoid the use of the word "homosexual" as if it were the plague..."

- It was only invented in the later 1800s, you know.

"...have not found an acceptable replacement for the word "lesbian"...

- Why do you need one? Lesbian is a clear and accepted word. Check your dictionary.

"They have also been successful in replacing the word "hetrosexual" with the word "straight". "

- At least 'straight' is easier for some to spell tham 'hetErosexual'. Your spelling is not a strong point, if I may speak straight from the heart.

"I raise the questions because..."

- you are an idiot?

"Does the U S Constitution define marriage or give the "right" to marry to a certain group of humans? I can't find such a "right"..."

- Can you find a prohibition in the constutution? What is not excluded must be included.

"Does the U S Constitution declare all persons "equal" in all matters? I can't find such equality..."

- as at my previous comment.

"It is important to consider the origin of words and why they are used to replace other words..."

- So that people can have a basis for their prejudices?

- It is not as important as you might like it to be. Words change their meaning all the time. Language is not fossilised like the minds of some.

"... I am David Turner."

Are you sure? Words do change...... It could change into "Mad. Virtue-drain". But them I like anagrams.

old comment by WWWWolf

> Does the U S Constitution define marriage or give the "right" to marry to a certain group of humans?

Here's a hint: The reason the US Constitution doesn't define a marriage is that that's not the purpose of a frigging constitution.

What constitutions should concern themselves about is basic rights and responsibilities of the citizens and the form of government.

I don't know about your Constitution, but the only place our Constitution mentions the marriage is in the citizenship section. Doesn't say damn about genders of the parents, incidentally.

Here's also another newsflash for you people: There's usually a little bit more to law than the constitutions. Marriages are very complex things.

old comment by Alencon

You're also an idiot or you stopped reading a tad too soon. Try actually reading Section 1 of the 14th Amendment next time. Allow me to quote it for you.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Marriage, for instance, as a legal state between two indivuduals of legal age, should therefore be open to all and there shouldn't be any arbitrary racial or sexual restriction on the person one chooses to marry.

The right wing argument that gays are asking for a special right to marry persons of the same sex since they already have the right to marry persons of the opposite sex is garbage because that argument also works for interracial marriage. Blacks always had the right to marry other blacks and whites always had the right to marry other whites right?

old comment by John

It is important to consider the origin of words and why they are used to replace other words and who or what group started using these 'words' to convey a different meaning.

So what is the origin of the word "mall"?

It started with an Italian croquet-like lawn game called Paglia e Maglia (palyeh'eh-malyeh), pall-mall in English (pronounced pal-mal in England, not paul-maul as in America). They made a court for it during the brief fad, and when the fad faded, they made the court into a long, narrow park with a promenade through it. It was called the "Pall Mall Park". Eventually, people forgot that it was a "park" called "Pall Mall" and started to think of it as a "mall" called "pall". Thus, "mall" became a word for any long, narrow park with a promenade through it.

In Washington, DC, they called the long, narrow park between the Washington memorial and the Capitol "The Mall". The first shopping centers in the US were modeled after a town street, with shops on either side, but with a grassy promenade instead of a road running through the middle, so they called them "malls".

So is "mall" descriptive based on its origin? Of course not. Attempting to ascribing a meaning to a word based on its original meaning as opposed to its current use is called the "etymological fallacy".

old comment by LogicalAgnostic

Your argument is nonsense because if you cared so much about words descriptions and labels as well as their origins then you would know even the words HETEROsexual (for someone who loves words so much you sure cannot spell) and homosexual were also invented words once upon a time for a description just as the words gay, bisexual, transgendered, asexual and other such words came about to describe said kinds of people.

So really... what is your point in all this? It sounds to me like you don't have an argument so you are just serving up a huge word salad of pointless gibberish just to top it all off with an end paragraph that needs a serious citation.

If you actually read the US Constitution you would in fact find that equality for all men (AKA MANKIND MEANING WOMEN TOO!) is actually in there and no matter how much you insist it isn't will not change the fact that it is.

GAY, STRAIGHT, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDERED, QUEER, ASEXUAL. NONE of those labels or states of being in a person make someone any less qualified for EQUAL RIGHTS. We are all human beings and we all bleed the same. Even people like you who have these rights and that is why you keep airing out your gum holes with this claptrap and hatred. GROW UP, David Turner.

David Turner #fundie joplinglobe.com

63 comments

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