Long Island Man Wins "Great American Think-Off"

A Long Island man's argument in favor of same-sex marriages won him the Great American Think-Off.

Robert Lerose, a writer from Uniondale, won the title of America's Greatest Thinker and 500 dollars when an audience of about 400 chose his argument over three others, including two who argued against gay marriage and another contestant who took spoke in favor it.

The Think-Off bills itself as a way for ordinary people to express their opinions on some of life's weightier questions in essays of 750 words or less.
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http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/apress_061304_thinkoff.html

If it was THAT good maybe some others should read it.

It's very telling that the two against a prohibition on same-sex marriage argue with logic and personal experience, whereas the two in favor repeatedly invoke God and the Bible.

The touchstones of the American Taliban. . .

Congratulations to Mr. Lerose -- though I imagine the Bushies will hate New York State just a bit more now!

Should Same Sex Marriage be Prohibited?



Robert Lerose
Uniondale, New York
Age 44 Occupation Writer

NO

We seek their advice on matters of dress, taste and style, in shows like Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. We let them into our living rooms every week, in programs like Will and Grace. We perform the plays they write, in dramas like A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. We listen to the songs they sing, by artists like k.d. lang. We elect them to high public office and ask them to lead us, as in the case of Congressman Barney Frank. And finally, if they keep quiet, we let them enlist and fight and sacrifice their lives defending our country.

We let gays participate in all these things, we accept their contributions to our culture -- but we forbid them to swear lifelong devotion to their partner through the vow of marriage.

I disagree. I don't think same-sex marriages should be prohibited.

Some people say that same-sex marriages will threaten, even destroy the institution. How? How can the exclusive commitment of two people to each other weaken the custom? Aren't the promises of fidelity and mutual obligation two of its many strengths?

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Lastly, when all the arguments have been made, when all the statistics have been cited and all the experts have been quoted and all the trends have been analyzed -- when all the noise quiets down, in that moment we should see our way clear to allowing same-sex couples to marry for the same, selfish primitive reasons that we do: to not be alone, to have a steady source of comfort in our lives, to belong to someone who has promised to be there for us tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

After all, what else is marriage for?

every link in this thread says the same thing - he's opposed to the PROHIBITION of it...
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