Love (and gov't recognition) Makes it Real?

I saw on a tweet yesterday that there is someone who is pushing for tax credits for pet owners. Now, I'm not talking about what they are doing in California, by possibly allowing someone to deduct their adoption fees. The argument is that to many people, pets are their children. Vet bills are expensive, costs of maintaining the pets are expensive. So there should be a deduction.

Every Christmas, Target goes with a theme for their advertisements. Several years ago, I remember it was the Velveteen Rabbit with Amy Grant singing "Love Makes You Real." Somewhere, I think we got confused on all that.

I love animals. Really, I do. But they're not human. Children are human. Maybe because I have both, I know the difference. I know when I was pregnant with my firstborn, my biggest fear is that he'd be allergic to the animals...what would I do then???? But it was clear to me what I would do, and I would've found homes for those animals or put them in a shelter -- preferably a no kill one, but if I had to, the right is there.

The government doesn't have an interest in making sure you take care of your pet...not beyond nuisance level. Your pet is not going to need an education, grow up, and be able to serve in the military or as a concerned citizen. That is what the tax deduction for children is about. There was a time before the Pill and Global Warming that people thought it was good for our future to have children, and several of them. They not only brought us joy and heartache, but they also helped out the family, took care of each other, and grew up to repeat the cycle.

But to say basically that the government should give you a tax deduction because you chose to bring an animal into your home, but its expensive -- that a deduction is in order because you wanted something to love...now that's just silly. But silliness abounds.

Everyone wants to have what they want and they want it to be okay...and to make it really okay, it has to be government sanctioned. Men who want to cut off their genitals and pump themselves with hormones (or women who want to do the same) want the government to give them a new identity saying that they are a woman, when they are not. Down to their DNA, they are men -- men who for some reason hate their bodies. But instead of finding out why, we simply condone it, call "Joe" "Jo" and ignore it.

People who find themselves having feelings for someone of the same sex want to have their relationship put on an equal status with marriage, but the reality is, its not. Even where the government recognizes it, its not. Every culture on this earth recognizes that marriage is between a man and a woman. Many don't think that marriage is about love at all, but about survival, economic benefit, and a safe place for the woman and children. But we've lost all concept of that since birth control is a reality and now children have become not much more than pets, in some cases, instead of a valuable addition to the survival of the family.

Marriage is not about two people coming together just because they have emotions for each other. We have a huge divorce rate because people think that. The vows made in the marriage ceremony really matter - till death do we part, because the need to remain together even if things sucked was much more important when a marriage was two people with different skills coming together to raise a family instead of two workers coming together to share a bed and a place to live while those feelings last.

And the survival of the family and a safe place to raise future citizens is in the interest of the government (however, I'm much more in favor of a flat tax with no tax deduction for kids). Recognizing another class of relationships that will clog up our courts with divorce cases is not in its best interest.

There is more than being a family than just choosing to love somebody. Even if that love is not there, the existence of the family is still a reality, no matter how broken it is. If that bond is only based on emotions, then it is very fragile indeed. And our divorce rates and the amount of animal shelters we have show this.

But the point is, the government can give a tax deduction for pets and mandate how you treat them, and give them alleged rights, but it doesn't change the fact that animals are not children, no matter how much you love them. Marriage IS between a man and a woman, even if the government says differently, because marriage is not about just wanting to be together. Just like they can call Stan "Loretta" and fight for his right to have a baby...he still can't. And occasionally it would be nice to have some sanity on this.