Protest idea: Divorce from the Institution of Marriage

[Swamp Rat]

Are you sick of bigotry against homosexual and transgender people? ... Yes? Then...

Do something about it NOW!

Couples can hold un-weddings in front of churches and divorce themselves from the institution of marriage.

It does not mean *at all* couples will be breaking up, separating etc., but places the onus on the church, which has not done enough to stop the bigotry within its ranks.

Even if some folks are not married, they can still find a friend and pretend to be married for the purposes of this protest.

People can brings signs with huge 'un-marriage' certificates. :D

[Ian David]

1. I still think it's a bad idea. but you're still an awesome dude. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

3. Why? Now is the time to stand up to the bigots all over the USA

Yes, Rove&Co. are always looking for a major distraction, but are we to sit back and let other Americans 'take one for the team' ... over and over?

[Ian David]

4. Yes, but "attacking marriage" is just playing into their hands

How about standing outside Catholic "churches" and fundie "churches" on Sunday, as services let-out, and asking them if THEY feel the need to divorce now that homosexuals have "attacked" their marriages.

My other idea:

Stand in front of a pharmacy, and when old people approach, tell them they are not allowed inside to get their prescription medication unless they sign a petition to ban gay marriage. Because, that is the choice they are facing-- support the Repukes to ban gay marriage (and lose their health care) or support the Dems and have guaranteed, free, universal health care.

You can't really STOP them from going inside though.

But it's more realistic than my idea of putting a plastic bag over someone's head and asking them to choose between being able to breathe clean air, and banning gay marriage.

[Swamp Rat]

5. Ok, but that's a worse idea than mine

:D

That might cause someone to have a heart attack. :yoiks:

[Ian David]

7. Yes, but they would have died soon anyway. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

10. LOL!

Sicko! :D

[Swamp Rat]

2. delete

[xchrom]

6. it's a fabulous idea!

and it's way past time that we take our protests to the doorsteps of churches who would try to bury us beneath their hate.

if they want to make us uncomfortable -- if they want to take this war right to us -- then return the damn favor.

whatever we do should most certainly be on sundays when they go to turn god into the equivalent of sniveling, wizened, creepy, impotent little thing.

[Ian David]

8. Churches that take a stand on "isuues" have entered the public arena

That is why I put the word "church" in quotes sometimes.

There is no longer such thing as a Catholic "church." It has become the activist army of The Vatican and a local McVatican franchise.

Remember when people used to go to things called Churches to pray, to connect with their invisible men in the sky, and feel good about themselves?

Now, they feel the need to force their agendas down our throats.

People need to rise-up and take back their churches-- take them away from the Theocrats and turn them into Houses of Worship again!

IMPEACH POPE RATSO!

[xchrom]

9. if the people going to church start attracting attention they

don't want -- i think many will want to back off.

they have their families with them.

and don't want to have to 'splain certain things to the kids.

mind you our protests should be fabulous and EXTREMELY festive.
nothin but fun -- but loud and raucous.

[Swamp Rat]

12. EXACTLY!!!

:bounce:

Take our Mardi Gras as an example! :D

[Djinn]

11. Convince people NOT to marry in church

This is something I've been thinking about for my own neck of the woods (ACT recently voted to allow "civil unions" with almost the same rights as marriage, the Federal Government under Bush's toady Howard, has announced it will overturn these laws

www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19392386-421,00.html

In Australia there are very few people who consider themselves religious, the vast majority of people who marry in a religious ceremony do so only because it's tradition. If we start a campaign to get people to choose reception venues, gardens and celebrants etc then maybe that will highlight here the fact that the churches do not speak for everyone, they don't even speak for the majority here. It might also effect the churches bottom line and have them welcoming ANYONE who wanted to marry in their buildings?

[Swamp Rat]

13. AHA! It will hit them where it counts:

Their pocketbooks! :D

Since the Episcopal Church, for example, has generally been supportive of same-sex marriage, they should be rewarded... financially. ;)

14. nice certificate!

The Last Catholic. Will that church ever change?

[Swamp Rat]

15. Thanks, but I just noticed I had a spelling error. Here is the updated one

:rofl:

[arwalden]

57. Why Didn't You Just Upload The New Image OVER The Old Image??

It really doesn't matter if DU's editing time has expired.

Is that possible to just upload the new file to your "imageshack" account and give it the SAME filename. In other words... just over-write your first image with a new one. (Assuming that the imageshack account allows you to specify filenames or to rename files.)

As long as the file names are identical, whenever anyone viewed (or refreshed) the original post, the CORRECT (newly uploaded) image would be displayed.

[Swamp Rat]

60. I wish I could, but I am not allowed to do it.

I have done that on other image hosting websites and forums, but I do not have that type of account at Imageshack.

The DU journals was a great idea - why not a user's gallery? I have mentioned it to DU admin but still no response.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[arwalden]

61. Well Then... ImageShack sucks!

:thumbsdown:

[EFerrari]

16. You know, Doug and I had a similar idea about boycotting

"marriage" until either government got out of the marriage business or until the civil rights of all GLBT folks were honored. We couldn't figure out how to move it forward, though. For one thing, we didn't get married in a church but in Reno by a minister who looked just like Doug's mom, and who said something like, "if you stay together, cool and if not, whatever".

We weren't sure if we were really married or not for a while there. :silly:

lol

:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

19. Great! ... My suggestion is a call for a symbolic action against bigotry.

This in no way is meant to subvert any legal right within the bounds of civil marriage, or disrupt healthy relationships, but instead puts pressure on the 'church' to stop supporting bigots.

:hi:

I suppose y'all are still 'married' right? The marriage business is not for me, unless I choose to help someone immigrate. I will remember your experince to guide me - Reno. ;)

[EFerrari]

20. Some of those Reno coupons can save you a few bucks, though!

lol

Just about evey religious insitution in this country has a LOT of soul searching to do on the issue of bigotry. Let's help them out.

:kick:

[demgurl]

17. I like this idea, swamprat. k & r

[Swamp Rat]

18. Thanks n/t

[SeattleGirl]

21. I like this idea, SwampRat.

I think it is a clever way to make a point, that homosexuals and transgender people are NOT a threat to marriage. The whole idea of amending the Constitution to deliberately discriminate against a group of people is utterly disgusting to me. I don't think such an amendment would pass, but still, it is despicable that people, that BUSH, is even bringing such a thing up.

[Swamp Rat]

23. Thanks

:hug:

Btw, as for making pix, if I can do it, so can you! ;)

[SeattleGirl]

47. I'm not terribly computer savvy

I do have Photoshop on one of my computers, but don't know how to use it. Can you help "learn" me? The more I can do, the happier I'll be.

[Swamp Rat]

49. Well, that would be somewhat difficulty over the Internet, but I might

be able to help with some basic questions. The best thing would be for you to just start playing around with it until you learn - that's what I did. I also assume you probably have the full version of Photoshop which has more features than my version. I recommend you get a book or DVD tutorial if it is too difficult to learn by experimenting. Though I have never cracked a book, I can do just about anything this program is capable of performing, but I seem to be able to do this with just about any software program, if given the time and right motivation. ;)

[upi402]

22. I'll ask the ex, but I bet she would come up for that

Or I might have to go down.

Oh god, the things we do for Swampy...

[Swamp Rat]

24. LOL!

:rofl:

The things we do for SEX! :D

[upi402]

30. Like lemmings, we would follow

our ding-dings over a cliff...

[katinmn]

56. Rascal!

:)

[seabeyond]

25. i want the left to go after second marriages too.

if you have been married not allowed to marry again, unless it was adultery and then if it is the woman anyway, she gets stoned. if a person marries a second time, they are sinnin

[autorank]

26. Oh boy! You are trying to get my ass kicked.

I'm under the impression that my wife does NOT read DU. If, however, I'm wrong, then an endorsement of this original, well stated, and graphically correct post would result in a major smack down for me! If she's not reading DU but does so at a later date, then the smack down is just delayed. If she never reads this on DU, then I'm living in a state perpetual worry, in the back of my mind, due to the fear that one of the previous scenarios may come et rue.

Having said all of that:

While IO8)autorank, would never, ever do such a thing, I strongly endorse the idea. What does a piece of paper mean? Oh, I know the answer to that. It means that that piece of paper is just another opportunity for right wing political adherents to bludgeon another minority group. Have you ever noticed, the Republican party is really good at picking on minorities. Has there ever been a minority group that the Republicans didn't attack?


K&R

[Swamp Rat]

27. Hey, can I un-marry your wife?

:D

I'm sure some will disagree, but I feel we should not only play right into the Rovian distraction, but fuck it up worse... go ALL the way!

After all, we're talking about loving, caring, feeling, hard working Americans and their civil rights!

I won't let this go until ALL Americans have their civil rights upheld. :patriot:

[fooj]

29. What YOU said.

LOL!!!

[MuseRider]

28. Hmmm, I'm thinking about this.

It would not even have to be married people but our GLBT organizations could do it too, just pretend and I like the Mardi Gras idea wrapped up in it. We could be festive and make a point. I have an idea that here it would be great fun to do it outside the Westboro Baptist Church! Hmm, I'm still thinking and would appreciate any ideas someone else might have.

SwampRat, I like the way you think.

*on a personal note, I just heard Christian Scott, he was at our Jazz Festival here. He was amazing! Love that new New Orleans trumpet sound.

[noamnety]

31. at the westboro baptist church! Yes!

Does anyone do any decent street theatre protests at their church? I love it - take the fight to their own turf!

[Swamp Rat]

32. ANYONE can participate!

Outside the Westboro Baptist Church!!!! GREAT place to start!!! :bounce:

Glad you mentioned music. One thing that makes protests successful is to have a lot of musicians playing LOUDLY and making noise! ... You can hear my bass drum over 2 BLOCKS AWAY!!! :D

[Chipper Chat]

39. Make some "Fags Hate God" signs.

Really piss off those Phelps srekcufrehtom.

[Swamp Rat]

42. How about this?:

:D

[Chipper Chat]

45. omg!

:rofl:
:rofl:

[katinmn]

55. ROTFLMAO!

:rofl:

Believe it or not, some rw tv pundit actually gave phelps airtime recently to spout his hatred. I saw the re-run. It was grotesque!

[Pachamama]

33. Hmm....I guess you could say Pachapapa & I are already "un-married" from

the church....As a "recovering Catholic" and him as an Atheist, the two of us were married by a New Age Priestess overlooking the Pacific ocean on the bluffs by Big Sur.

I guess I could use this as a new "threat" instead of Divorce? "I'll UN-MARRY you Pachapapa!" :)

All jest aside....I think its a creative idea for responding to this bullshit attack on Gays,Lesbians and Transgenders. I dare any heterosexual couple that is either married or divorced to show how their marriage was destroyed or is threatened by Gays marrying.

I think nothing is more wonderful than two people who love eachother wanting to marry...why should it matter if its same sex?

[Swamp Rat]

35. Ooo! Big Sur. Must've been wonderful!

:)

:rofl: LOL! Tell Pachapapa I'm sorry! :yoiks:

[Pachamama]

38. No problemo....

Poor Pachapapa...he'd tell you the biggest threat to our marriage isn't Gay's marrying, but rather it is a) my temper b) my hormones c) George W. Bush & the GOP (my going off about them) d)My spending habits

Not in that order necessarily...

:hi:

[Chipper Chat]

44. .

self-delete

[benburch]

34. I like the idea,

I think the State has no business sanctioning marriage.

[Swamp Rat]

36. thanks for responding

unfortunately, I had a spelling error in my pic, but it was too late to edit:

[katinmn]

37. Hee Hee. It would drive the wing nuts crazy!

Beat them at their own divisive game.

Wanna get unmarried? ;-)

[Swamp Rat]

41. "I do"

:D

[Gelliebeans]

40. Excellent Idea Swamp Rat!!!!!!

kick and recommended. It would be nice if the social pages in the newspapers that announce engagements and marriages would announce this also. If it were done on a particular day they couldn't help but take notice of the "UN-marriage".

gellie

[Swamp Rat]

43. I would LOVE to see this actually happen!

Even if a small group of people did it, with the right publicity and media access, it could be HUGH1! :D

:kick:

[Karenina]

46. LOL!!!

:rofl::kick::rofl:

[Swamp Rat]

48. danke liebling!

:hug:

Ich werde von diesem amerikanischen Fetische gegen sexuelle Freiheit krank. :eyes:

[opihimoimoi]

64. Kick them buggahs in the teeth.Marry on da beach and unmarry on the church

[blogslut]

50. Join the Church of the SubGenius

We provide Short Duration Marriages and Eternal Salvation or your money back!

Praise Bob :)

http://www.subgenius.com/marriage.html

http://www.subgenius.com/pam1/pamphlet_p1.html

[katinmn]

66. LOL. I'm also a big fan of the Church of Reality

http://www.churchofreality.org/wisdom/welcome_home/

The Church of Reality is a religion based on the practice of Realism, believing in everything that is real. Our motto is, "If it's real, we believe in it." Since no one knows all of reality, the Church of Reality is really a religious commitment to the pursuit of reality the way it really is. We think about thinking. We wonder about wondering. We try to understand the understanding of understanding. We are Explorers not followers. The phrase "What is Real?" is our Sacred Question and the word "Reality" is our Sacred Message. We talk about reality, think about reality, and make reality more important in society.

The Church of Reality is not a religion of science, it is a religion of people....

[Solly Mack]

51. I like it. Let your religious institution know you won't tolerate their

hate and bigotry. Let your religious institution know in no uncertain terms - that discrimination and hate isn't a value you want endorsing your marriage.

Ultimately, it's about what YOU will tolerate...what YOU will allow. If YOU embrace equality, then YOU can't endorse those religious institutions that promote hate.

[Swamp Rat]

52. I will not tolerate bigotry

Since Bushler&Co have decided to make it an issue, I think we should take them head-on. Bring it ON!!!

[Solly Mack]

58. I agree. :)

They wanna fight..then let's fight.

[Beware the Beast Man]

53. "cirtificate"?

[katinmn]

54. Here's the updated one

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1367928&mesg_id=1368599

[Swamp Rat]

59. Thanks!

:D

I haven't slept in about 48 hours... too much to do. I am cleaning and fixing the house, working on a masters thesis, trying to post here, and many other things. When I noticed the typo, it was a few minutes too late... and I KNEW it was going to be pointed out... a few times. :D

I gotta sleep for a couple of hours.

[katinmn]

62. Rest up! Will check back to kick the thread

and post the updated certificate if needed.:)

[in_cog_ni_to]

63. Swamp, you are just amazing! I love the certificate and the idea is

BRILLIANT!:hi:

[katinmn]

65. kick!

:kick:

[katinmn]

67. A kick for fighting back. :-)