Marriage Equality Amendment Bill today

This parliamentary bill gets it's first reading/vote today.. If passed it goes to a second reading and select committee work-over...

The religious are generally against this amendment on the grounds that it breaks the sanctimony of marriage.  That marriage between a man and a women is the domain of god and while enshrined in law as being more than that it is still a religious institution first and foremost.

No surprise if you guess that I'm not supporting the religious argument.

One thing they do have right is the acknowledgement that marriage has become more than a religious ceremony.  It is now a state ceremony and it's definition has ramifications in law and society.  This amendment (if passed in to law) will have the effect of gathering in a part of our society that is excluded.  In other words we have legal and societal conditions that create a 2nd tier within our country and I happy to see this form of bigotry extinguished.

Quote from Penn Jillette on faith

Just finished GOD, NO! by Penn Jillette - a great read, his flamboyant personality leaps off the page...

An abridged quote from the book
"Its not fair to blame all the Muslims for the horrible acts of a few people.  That's wrong.  You cannot blame all thos epeople.  And we shouldn't blame a particular faith for the horrible acts of a few people.  At least we shouldn't blame just Islam.  We should blame all faiths.  We should blame faith in general. But Bush and Obama couldn't do that.  No religious person can do that.  Being religious means being okay with believing in things without evidence.  That's the most important part of any faith."

Cool !! "Being religious means being okay with believing things without evidence" - get it

So - and to use another quote: "The enemy is not Muslims.  Muslims are people.  The enemy is not people.  People are good.  The enemy is not Islam.  The enemy is not god.  There is no god. The enemy is faith.  Love and respect all people; hate and destroy all faith"

AtheistPig.com - Guardian Angel

Should we call religious people stupid?

Probably not.  So what would be acceptable?

I'll answer that with a question: What do we call adults who believe in the existence of Santa Claus?