Snort Bites July 2013

ROYAL FAMILY WELCOMES NEW ARRIVAL

The Duchess of Cambridge (or as her husband refers to her, “Kate”) gave birth to a baby boy recently, making him third in line for the British crown. After two days, the baby’s name was released — a long three word affair — but they will call him George for short.

Bummer! I had my money on Aloysius!

Okay, let’s get this out of our systems now: “We will love him and hug him and call him George!” Thank you to Looney Tunes and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men for our salute to the new royal progeny. Good luck to the Duke and Duchess on their new addition and with whatever else you do with your lives.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ANNOUNCES IT WILL ISSUE SAME SEX MARRIAGE LICENSES DESPITE THE PRACTICE BEING ILLEGAL AT THE STATE LEVEL

The Montgomery County Register of Wills announced recently that it would issue marriage licenses to gay couples, in a surprise move that openly defies current state law. So far, 20 couples have taken the county up on their offer. There have also been the attendant members of the religious community staging “pray-ins” to demonstrate against the licenses. I counted 8 protestors in a newspaper photo of the event.

Full disclosure: I reside a half mile from the county seat where this latest progression of our society or descent into Sodom and Gomorrah (take your pick) is happening. I am pleasantly shocked that the county of my residence is taking this step forward. I would hope that the political minds in Harrisburg would reconsider the state’s ban on same sex marriage, and that change would not have to wind itself slowly, tortuously through the rest of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

If, however, progress takes the long road, then so be it. At least the end result will be a step forward.

Opponents will try to pray away the gay tendencies every chance they get. May I humbly suggest that they are praying for the wrong thing; they should pray for acceptance of other people’s desire to build a long-term relationship with whatever other human being they wish to build a life around. 

They should heed the words of the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”

An offering plate will be passed around at the conclusion of this blog entry…

On a related note…

DEVOTED HUSBAND AND FATHER‘S DISAPPEARANCE IN 1991 AND HIS RETURN TO HIS FAMILY AS A GAY MAN SPARKS CONTROVERSY

In 1991, Eric Myers, a deeply religious devoted husband and father of five, disappeared. He did not contact his family for 16 years. In the meantime, he had fallen in love and married another man. On the family side, he was declared legally dead and they cashed in an $800,000 death benefit. 

This whole story came to light recently when Mr. Myers explained the reasons for his disappearance in an interview on ABC’s 20/20. Myers felt constrained by his religious beliefs that repressed his sexuality. He walked away from it and started a new life with a Canadian man he met in Palm Springs, California. He decided to make peace with his parents and family and re-entered their lives in 2007.

Unfortunately, his actions have pitted him and his family against the life insurance company that wants their money back since Myers never died. I would hope that the insurance company will show some compassion for a family whose emotions went through the wringer for 16 years. After all, it’s not like the family knowingly committed fraud; Myers himself would not have known that he had been declared legally dead which would have cleared the legal path for the policy benefit to be cashed. I would hope that perhaps Liberty Life Insurance will settle for a lesser amount than the original payment plus interest.

Myers' return did not go over very well on a personal level either. When Myers came back to his wife, she reacted like “the anti-Christ had returned.” Anti-Christ? Harrumph! Okay, Mrs. Myers, you want to make that check out to Liberty Life Insurance; write the numeral “eight” and follow that with a lot of zeroes!

In any case, the story is another example of why society needs to correct their thinking about same sex marriage. This culturally defined non-acceptance leads many to adopt a lifestyle that is alien to them and ultimately heart-breaking for all concerned. In any case, the clichéd concept of living “happily ever after” seems more unattainable in real life, but that is hopefully, gradually changing.

(Thank you for reading. Now where’s that collection plate…?)