Abortion?: Needs to stay legal and safe — making it illegal won’t stop it, it’ll just make it unsafe.
Death Penalty?: I waffle. Most of the time, I’m anti-, though there are people (like Gary Ridgeway) that really make me question that stance.
Prostitution?: Legalize. Again, it’s not going to go away, might as well do what we can to make it safe for all parties involved.
Alcohol?: Not much of a drinker, myself — one or two drinks on the weekends when I go out. All things in moderation.
Marijuana?: If I could find one person who wanted me to sign a “legalize hemp” petition that even tried to convince me that they cared at all about hemp, I might sign it. Every one I’ve ever encountered, though, just wants to get stoned. Generally, I have less problems with pot than I do alcohol — I’ve never seen a violent stoner, but I’ve seen plenty of angry drunks — but on a personal level it bored me to tears every time I tried it (I got hungry, stupid, and sleepy, all of which I can do quite well on my own without paying \$40 an eighth for the privilege), and I’ve seen people I care about do way too much, and contrary to pro-pot propaganda, yes, it does affect you beyond just the “high”. Growing up in Alaska’s very pot-friendly environment went a long way towards souring me towards the entire “pot culture”, and it’s one of the soapboxes I can get on very easily…
Other drugs?: Only ever tried pot, acid and shrooms. Pot bored me, acid was fun for about two years, shrooms gave me one very good, intense, introspective trip — and that was the last time I did any drugs. I can’t universally condemn drug use (the right drugs in the right situations can make for anything from a fun vacation to a good amount of soul searching), but on the whole, I really don’t recommend them (the right or wrong drugs at the wrong time can be a very, very bad situation).
Gay marriage?: Why do we even have to prepend “gay” to “marriage”? Two people love each other, let them do what they want, including marriage. This shouldn’t even be an issue.
Illegal immigrants?: Not an issue I really know enough about to make an intelligent argument one way or the other. Gut feeling is that the majority of them are just people doing their best to survive in the best environment possible who for one reason or another have difficulty navigating the labyrinthine beauracracy of the US Immigration Service.
Smoking?: A bad habit I need to quit.
Drunk driving?: No excuse. Should be an automatic, permanent revocation of the drivers license.
Cloning?: Very cool. Proceed with caution.
Racism?: Stupid.
Premarital sex?: Whenever I can. ;) More seriously, sexual compatibility is far too important of an issue in a relationship to leave to chance. Not only do I not have any problems with premarital sex, at times I think it should be required. Besides, I often question whether or not I ever will get married, and as I’d rather not go the celibate route…
Religion?: Investigate the ones that interest you. Never blindly accept. Question, listen to the answers you receive, learn, make your own judgments, and form your own ideas. I was lucky enough to grow up in a very open atmosphere where discussion and questioning were not only accepted, but encouraged. My base belief structure is very much based on the Christian faith (specifically, the Episcopal church) that I grew up in, but I’ve also found much in other religions that appeals to me, and have incorporated some of them into my personal belief structure. Lastly, and most importantly, realize that for everyone, their beliefs are their own — and they have no more right to impose their beliefs on you than you do to impose yours on them.
The war in Iraq?: Mind-bogglingly stupid.
Bush?: Also mind-bogglingly stupid. Actually, realistically, that’s probably very unfair. However, I agree with few to none of this man’s viewpoints, beliefs, or actions, I think he’s doing some terrible things to our country, and his apparent insistence on combining his religious viewpoints with governing the country deeply disturbs me.
Downloading music?: Generally something I only do when searching out rare tracks that cannot be found any other way. Whenever possible I will purchase the CD — directly from the artist if possible, through a store if necessary (the artists may not get much from their contracts with the studios, but they’ll get more than if I download the track).
The legal drinking age?: No major problems with it, though I wouldn’t mind if it were the same as the smoking, voting, and military service ages. Seems more than a little silly that at 18 you can cast your vote to influence the direction and leadership of the country or get sent overseas to be killed, and at 19 you can legally poison your body with tobacco, but you can’t down a beer until you’re 21.
Porn?: In general, no issues with it whatsoever. On a personal level…an occasional thing, but nothing that’s really ever interested me that much. I toss this quote out every so often, so you may have seen it here before, but when my dad was in the military, there was one serviceman who didn’t have the porn collection that most of the other soldiers did, and he generally wouldn’t go along on the trips out to the strip joints or (ahem) “massage parlors”. When asked why, his response was simply that, “I’m not particularly interested in sex — unless it’s specifically directed at me.”
Suicide?: I can’t understand it. Never have, and never will. No matter how low I get, how bad my life gets, or how depressed I get, I know that things will change. There are a lot of things in this world that I haven’t seen yet or haven’t done yet, and I don’t want to miss out on the chance to see or do a single one of them. Things are bad every so often, sure. But things are pretty damn good a lot of the time, too, and I simply cannot envision voluntarily giving all that up.
(via Mickey)