Dancing in the Moonlight

The Pursuit of Happiness

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:59:20 GMT

I have often referred to this phrase from the Declaration of Independence in my discussions on marriage equality. In response to comments I made in another journal, someone recently questioned whether or not the Declaration could be used in legal arguments.

From Wikipedia (that world-renowned source of reliability :D):

The phrase "pursuit of happiness" appeared in the 1967 Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), which focused on an anti-miscegenation statute. Chief Justice Warren wrote:

The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.

The phrase is used in the depression-era case Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923), which is seen as the seminal case interpreting the "liberty" interest of the Due Process clause of the 14th amendment as guaranteeing, among other things, a right to the pursuit of happiness, and, consequently, a right to privacy.

If Loving v Virginia cannot be considered relevant in any question of marriage equality, then I do not know what can be. As a member of the pagan clergy, I fully support the right of any committed, adult persons to engage in the rites of marriage (regardless of gender sexual orientation or, for that matter, number.)

My 9-11 Post

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:28:31 GMT

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

~~ Bene Gesserit maxim (From Frank Herbert's DUNE series)

And in closing, I would like each and every one of you to read FDR's First Inaugural Address, containing that immortal phrase: "... the only thing we have to fear is fear itself ..."

The Sorting Poll

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:49:48 GMT

As those of you who ~~stalked me~~ followed me over here from livejournal already know, I use group filters for many of my posts.

Here is the current version of the Sorting Poll (sorry, they were all out of hats). Should you later change your mind, you can retake the poll and change your responses, but as I may not notice this, also drop me a comment here letting me know.

View Poll: Sorting Poll

Some questions should be obvious, even to me, but sometimes I don't recognise screen names.

If you do not know what BTW, TIW or Sylum Clan refer to, you may safely skip those questions.

As noted in the first two of those, I am asking for someone who can vouch for you - I may already have you sorted into these, I might not. the request for a vouch is something new, I know, but I've been reevaluating some of the online interactions I've had over the years, and am being just a tad more cautious.

Sylum Clan members - please also friend nightstalker as that is my fandom and Clan Journal.

ALL comments to this poll are screened, and will be removed once they are answered. Any questions you do not wish to make here may be emailed to me at moondancer at nemedcuculatii dot org.