John Roberts - Anti Gay sentiment unearthed today

[Squirt]

I think it's irresponsible to try and blow things liike this out of proportion and doesn't lead to an informed, accurate, fair or reliable perception of the man to attempt to draw conclusions from such instances.

I think it's irresponsible to ignore the personal statements a Supreme Court nominee makes when consulting the president of the United States and say they were just doing their job by calling the children of unwed mothers illegitimate and casting a negative light on personas related to the Gay community.

I quoted the man. There was no blowing things out of proportion. The man said himself, in the quote I supplied, that children of unwed mothers are illegitimate and casts a negative light on androgyny, a persona of the Gay community. Roberts was speaking in the first person at that point, not a narrative. :groovy:

[BDBionic]

Children of unwed mothers are considered illegitimate. That's what they're called. That's the term for them. It's not a flattering term, that's for sure. But it's the word that exists to make reference to them. Blame whoever originally defined it a such, not the people using the language. They lyrics of Billie Jean are hardly an edorsement of the kinds of family values the Reagan administration would have been attempting to align itself with. He's referring to the lyrics of one of Jackson's songs - a song in which illegitimacy plays a prominent role. Not bashing anyone for having children out of wedlock.

And you did more than just quote the man. You drew conclusions off of those and you're assigning them what you believe them to have meant. That's where the subjectivity comes in.

You're certainly allowed to read what you want out of it and who knows, you could be right. But I personally think that those statements in no way indicate what his beliefs were or are, and most certainly can't be used to attempt to predict how he might rule in the future as a supreme court justice. And that people can and do disagree (for example, my different take on those statements and the context in which they were delivered, as well as Steve's) shows that they're hardly some black and white characterization of the man's opinions.

[Squirt]

Children of unwed mothers are considered illegitimate. That's what they're called. That's the term for them. It's not a flattering term, that's for sure.......... He's referring to the lyrics of one of Jackson's songs - a song in which illegitimacy plays a prominent role. Not bashing anyone for having children out of wedlock.

You're certainly allowed to read what you want out of it and who knows, you could be right.

When a child is born out of wedlock, the birth certificate does not state the child is illegitimate. Particular people use that term for a particular reason.

The definition of illegitimate is 1 : not recognized by the law as offspring. 2 : not valid according to law. Ironic that he uses a term quoting a legal status that hasn't existed for over 40 years, and he's an attorney! Again, proof this is his personal belief that children born out of wedlock are not accepted by his group of people, unless they adopt them of course

We might never know what his thoughts are exactly and it's frightening that he could be in one of the most powerful positions in the United States and he's virtually a blank slate, yet someone running for president, or governor, has to lay it all on the line and show people exactly who they are. Creepy

[Squirt]

Confucius- teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC)

It was a quote by Confucius :high: