Same Sex Marriage Essay

Same Sex Marriage Essay Same Sex Marriage Essay Allen 1 Alyssa Allen Mrs. Fisher Adv. English 2 May 2014 Same- Sex Marriage Ever since the fabulous hippie movement in the 1960’s people were left discovering themselves in new ways. It became acceptable for a man and a man to be in love, along with a woman and a woman and even a man to be a woman and vice versa. But not everyone found this as an â€Å"acceptable way of life†. Ever since people began to become more open about their sexual orientation they began fighting for their rights. After all, you love who you love and no one else should be able to prevent you from living a happy, safe, insured life. The majority of people who oppose same-sex marriage do it because they believe that letting gay couples get married would redefine marriage itself. Well duh that’s the point. But, what is marriage? There are many different ways to look at it; when two people are united in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law or just an intimate union. But most forget the vows one must take in such union, â€Å" to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part†. I believe this is the best definition of marriage there is. Letting gay couples get married doesn't make this statement any weaker, it reinforces it (Rauch). When you get married you are taking one for all Allen 2 they are and all they offer and promising to love them and be there for them until the day they die. Now why would you deny someone their right to love another just because they are the same gender? Because you don’t like it? Even if you don't like it or if you're against it, how does a complete stranger’s life affect you in any way? If a gay couple got married right now how would it affect you and the way you live your life. So why not just let them get married. Another argument one might make against gay marriage hurts children. They feel that children do best when they are raised by married, biological parents, which is true but not completely. Yes, a child may do better with one mom and one dad each but it is not something that would make a huge difference in their lives. Over a third of children today don’t live with two married parents, something that has been going on decades before same-sex marriage came along. Marriage also unites non-biological parents to children; couples who adopt their children, step-parents who marry into parenthood and LGBT couples. Many gay couples have kids and the only thing that makes that situation worse is the fact that those children’s parents can’t get married, not the fact that they are being raised by two dads or two moms. The main reason most people are against gay marriage is because of religious reasons, and they think that collisions with religious liberties are unavoidable. For example, what if a Salvation Army worker couldn’t get healthcare benefits for his husband? Or a student at a Baptist college couldn’t get marriage-student housing with her wife? Which is understandable, but not entirely true. We know it is a manageable situation because we have already dealt with it in the context of abortion (Rauch). There is a religious-liberty that is provided that prevents Allen 3 Catholic hospitals from performing the procedure. The same can be done about same-sex marriage. So it very well is something that can be dealt with. Our country is split in half in a couple of ways. Half of the country opposes same-sex marriage, the other is for it. Half of the country thinks we should have the same policy nationwide, thinking if different states had different policies it would be chaos. But that’s not the case. Every state has different marriage standards like, whether or not you can marry a blood relative or the age of consent or on divorce and so on. I believe a slow and gradual change is what America needs to slowly adjust its people

Death Valley, the Lowest and Hottest Place in the U.S.

Death Valley, the Lowest and Hottest Place in the U.S. Death Valley is a large part of the Mojave Desert located in California near its border with Nevada. Most of Death Valley is in Inyo County, California and comprises most of Death Valley National Park. Death Valley is significant to the United States geography because it is considered the lowest point in the contiguous U.S. at an elevation of -282 feet (-86 m). The region is also one of the hottest and driest in the country. The Vast Area Death Valley has an area of about 3,000 square miles (7,800 sq km) and runs from the north to the south. It is bounded by the Amargosa Range to the east, the Panamint Range to the west, the Sylvania Mountains to the north and the Owlshead Mountains to the south. From Lowest to Highest Death Valley is located only 76 miles (123 km) from Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous U.S. at 14,505 feet (4,421 m). The Climate The climate of Death Valley is arid and because it is bounded by mountains on all sides, hot, dry air masses often get trapped in the valley. Therefore, extremely hot temperatures are not uncommon in the area. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was 134Â °F (57.1Â °C) at Furnace Creek on July 10, 1913. Temperature Average summer temperatures in Death Valley frequently exceed 100Â °F (37Â °C) and the average August high temperature for Furnace Creek is 113.9Â °F (45.5Â °C). By contrast, the average January low is 39.3Â °F (4.1Â °C). The Big Basin Death Valley is a part of the U.S. Basin and Range province as it is a low point surrounded by very high mountain ranges. Geologically, basin and range topography is formed by fault movement in the region that causes the land to drop down to form valleys and land to rise up to form mountains. Salt in the Land Death Valley also contains salt pans which indicate that the area was once a large inland sea during the Pleistocene epoch. As the Earth began to warm into the Holocene, the lake in Death Valley evaporated to what it is today. The Native Tribe Historically, Death Valley has been home to Native American tribes and today, the Timbisha tribe, which has been in the valley for at least 1,000 years, inhabits the region. Becoming a National Monument On February 11, 1933, Death Valley was made a National Monument by President Herbert Hoover. In 1994, the area was re-designated as a National Park. Vegetation Most of the vegetation in Death Valley consists of low-lying shrubs or no vegetation unless near a water source. At some of Death Valleys higher locations, Joshua Trees and Bristlecone Pines can be found. In the spring after winter rains, Death Valley is known to have large plant and floral blooms in its wetter areas. Wildlife Death Valley is home to many different types of small mammals, birds, and reptiles. There are also a variety of larger mammals in the area which include Bighorn Sheep, coyotes, bobcats, kit foxes and mountain lions.To learn more about Death Valley, visit the official website of Death Valley National Park. References Wikipedia. (2010, March 16). Death Valley - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_ValleyWikipedia. (2010, March 11). Death Valley National Park - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_National_Park