Letters on same-sex marriage, tax-free fireworks
Ruling dilutes value of marriage
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage does not affect me at all. Its effect is on something much larger than any individual. It affects the institution of marriage.
Marriage is the linchpin of the family, and the family is the basic building block of society.
This ruling dilutes the importance and value of marriage and weakens the institution, thus weakening society.
Justice Anthony Kennedy said of marriage in the majority opinion: “Its dynamic allows two people to find a life that could not be found alone.” Given his logic, how can anyone now argue against the notion that any combination of two people should be allowed to marry? How can it be argued that brother-brother, sister-sister, brother-sister, parent-adult child, or even minors be denied “a life that could not be found alone”?
Traditional marriage only discriminated by age, sex and family relation. Now I see the doors open for no discrimination in marriage at all.
My wish is that my opinion be received as simply a defense of traditional marriage as it has been known for thousands of years, nothing more. My fear is that my opinion will be seen as homophobic ranting, which it is not.
CHARLES KISSLING
Wichita
Doesn’t affect you
What right do some Christians have to say about who can get married? They are not God, and I do not think he gave them that power. They are not smart enough to know who can get married. In fact, they have no right to tell other people how to live their lives.
Gay marriage does not affect their marriage, so why do they care? It does not affect me, so I do not care. Why do they?
This reminds me of when African-Americans and whites could not get married. It did not affect other people’s marriages, so why was it against the law? The reason: The racists did not want people from different races to marry. Then, like now, it was none of their business who wanted to get married. Live your life and stay out of others’ lives.
Republicans can learn a lesson. Nobody likes somebody who tries to tell him what he can do. They should worry about trying to help people, which they are not very good at.
ALEX RAY Jr.
Wichita
Think about it
I received one of those “buy fireworks” fliers in the mail. It was from a local community service organization. At the top of the flier was the statement: “Save – no sales tax – save.”
That initiated a “think about it” moment: From certain nonprofit groups we can purchase, with no sales tax, an entertainment product (fireworks), which after a few “oohs” and “ahs” disappears into thin air. Then we head to our local supermarket to purchase life-sustaining food for a July 4 picnic or family get-together, and pay the full sales-tax rate.
Whatever happened to common sense and our sense of priorities? Think about it, Kansas.
JOHN STOHLER
Wichita
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This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Letters on same-sex marriage, tax-free fireworks."