Of course, ” is a closing quotation mark.

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=%26%23148%3B&

But, for some reason, OLO has randomly and intermittently stopped recognising them of late.

Dear AJ,

I'm more optimistic. Apparently young people are registering
to vote in huge numbers according to the actress/comic -
Magda Z. We'll have to wait and see if this makes a difference.

Dear Foxy,

Yes, I’m aware of the immense groundswell and movement around the ‘Yes’ camp. I even read an article which predicted (after a bit of number crunching) that the ‘Yes’ vote will probably win.

I, too, am usually quite optimistic. However, as much as I would be pleased to see the ‘Yes’ vote win, and as motivated as I am to tick ‘Yes’ and try to remember how the postal system works so that I can send off my vote; I have to admit that, stepping back into my Christian shoes, I would have been far more motivated to scrawl an angry and bigoted tick in the ‘No’ box and goose-step my way to a postal box, to angrily slam my vote through the slot.

As I mentioned before, Christians have an additional motivation, and it’s a motivation that surpasses any earthly motivation because it is believed to come from a realm and purpose which transcends and surpasses the material world - in the eyes of the theist, at least.

This is what I suspect the politicians in the ‘No’ camp are relying on.

I sincerely hope my prediction is wrong, though. This really isn’t a time that I look forward to saying, “I told you so”, because of just how ugly a stain a successful ‘No’ vote would leave on our nation. The thought that we could present ourselves to the resot of the world as such disgusting pigs is truly disturbing to me.

Either way, though, I don’t think this vote has legitimacy, regardless of what the results are, simply because it won’t be compulsory. Now that I think about it though, a ‘Yes’ result would probably have a little more legitimacy because it would be in line with consistent polling over the last 13 years.

AJ Philips writes:
“Either way, though, I don’t think this vote has legitimacy, regardless of what the results are, simply because it won’t be compulsory.”

Another way to look at is that, because it’s purely voluntary, perhaps only those that give a damn might vote.
In these non-compulsory votes, the turn out is usually about 50% or less.
One could imagine nearly any scenario.

What if the turn-out is only 40% and the vote is Yes?
What if the turn-out is only 40% and the vote is No?

That’s a point, Dustin.

<<Another way to look at is that, because it’s purely voluntary, perhaps only those that give a damn might vote.>>

But then there’s a lot of people who will have an opinion, but just not a strong enough opinion to find the time to submit it, or remember to submit it; particularly if they find themselves caught in a very busy period of their lives. And, given the point I’ve raised regarding the motivational boost which religion can provide (which I personally can very much relate to, looking back to my Christian days), I think such people are more likely to be of the ‘Yes’ camp.

I guess my opinion on the matter ultimately comes down to my own subjective, personal comparison of the old Christian me, and the current atheist me.

Again, though, I’ll be happy to be proven wrong on this one.

Hi Foxy,

We will keep our fingers crossed, and hope the outcome is fair to our fellow Australians who happen to be gay. it actually saddens me to think that we have to "vote" to give that right to a minority of our fellow citizens, a right that the rest of us take for granted.

Last week when we had dinner with two of our closest friends, who happen to be gay, and were legally married in New Zealand, we attended their wedding. They said they were not going to vote, because they felt humiliated by it all. I hope I convinced them, to vote, as not voting was a no vote. Then I thought how would I feel if the majority of my fellow Australians were voting to say if I can have the right to work. At the end of the day I would take every no vote as a personal affront to my dignity, even if the yes vote won. Do you know where I am coming from?