the rix mix

Interesting examples of phrasing poll questions from CNN / Opinion Research Corporation

Do you think gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law as valid?
49% Yes, 51% No

Do you think gays and lesbians should have a constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law as valid?
52% Yes, 46% No

In the first question, I'm uncertain if it means ideally or in actual current practice. But in the second question, I have a clear opinion. The perecentages also reflect what I think is an unstoppable demographic shift in favor of equal marriage rights.

As you may know, a group of Muslims in the U.S. plan to build a mosque two blocks from the site in New York City where the World Trade Center used to stand. Do you favor or oppose this plan?
29% Favor, 68% Oppose

Here, I'm with the 68%. I do oppose the plan  & I have my own questions about who is funding it. If the question were posed in terms of rights, I'd support the right to build. But people outside NYC aren't aware of the location, what the financial district  & City Hall area look  like,  the size of the buildings there, or that 9/11 survivors & powerful real estate interests have been battling  each other all along over redevelopment plans.  Park Pl. is not a Ground Zero memorial site, although it was a jet debris impact area.  It's ripe for gentrification, monification, bankification, whatever you want to call it. One demagogic NY candidate for governor thinks he could use eminent domain to turn Park51 into some kind of garden. Sorry, if the mosque doesn't go there, a bank will move in.  Burlington Coat Factory isn't returning. The financial district isn't about Muslim, Christians, & Jews, it's about money & profit.  If you really listen to Mayor Bloomberg, that's what's he saying.

The design I saw for Cordoba House looks like  a contemporary  office building with a fanciful facade.  Everyone knows St. Patrick's Cathedral & the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. But most old churches in Manhattan are crowded in & you don't notice them until you're standing in front of them.

Labels: blogging against theocracy, in the news, love