Gay Marriage

In the United States of America, we live in a democracy where there is a separation of church and state. Oh, wait. That’s just what the constitution says, but Christianity is weaved thoroughly in our government’s everyday rituals (i.e. swearing on a bible, religious testing to get into office, Pledge of Allegiance, ect.). One of these highly debated topics is gay marriage.

The only people I have heard of that are 500% against marriage between same-sex couples are the Christian population. I don’t say that to be degrading toward the Christian religion, but it does clearly say it in one of the most infamous passages of the bible that: “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 18:22). I would also like to take this opportunity to recognize that the bible also says:

(Toward the end of this video there are three separate incessant terms that rhyme with duck. Viewer discretion is advised.)

Also, to add on to that list:

• Lying about virginity (Deuteronomy 22:20-21)
• Having sex with a woman who is menstruating (Leviticus 20:18)
• Eating any meat not killed according to the Kosher practice (Deuteronomy 12:21)
• Eating a cheeseburger or anything that mixes meat and dairy (Exodus 23:19)
• Being a male who is not circumcised. (Genesis 17:14)
• Murdering a slave (Exodus 21:26-27)
• Planting more than one kind of seed in a field (Leviticus 19:19)
• Wearing clothing woven of more than one kind of cloth (Leviticus 19:19)
• Touching the dead carcass of a pig (Deuteronomy 14:8)
• Divorce (Mark 10:9)
• If you don’t have testicles, you can’t pray (Deuteronomy 23:1)
• No wearing gold (Timothy 2:9)
• Women need to keep her hair covered during prayer (Corinthians 11:5)
• Love your neighbor (Leviticus 19: 17-18)
• Sooo much more…..

The list goes on and on and on, but people seem to pick and choose what they want to agree with out of the bible. “I like American football so that’s okay, but I don’t like homosexuals so I’m going to criticize them and take away their rights.” Honestly, that’s what goes through my head when people say “the bible says so”. If you are going to put yourself into a religion and follow the religious book, then you do not get to pick and choose what is right and what is wrong in the religion. It is all or nothing. You better follow that religious book to a ‘T’ before you even think about using it as evidence to say that homosexuality is wrong.

Many people are not against homosexuality, but are against homosexual marriage. They prefer for it to be called Civil Union. The definition of Marriage is: “the legal or religious ceremony that formalizes the decision of two people to live as a married couple, including the accompanying social festivities”. It clearly says a legal or religious ceremony. It doesn’t have to be secular if you don’t want it to be, but as far as I’m concerned, marriage is not a religious term, it is a contractual term.

I can see why it is bothering so many people. Really. I do.

But it is not just a Christian term. Atheists get married all the time. By all means, abolish the term marriage to everyone. No more marriage. Let’s just call it a Civil Union for everyone so that way if you view it as a religious thing, then it’s taken care of; But here’s the thing, if someone wants to have a religious ceremony, they will regardless if other people want them to or not. If someone were to be offended by a marriage contract, fine. We can do a lot to change that, but just changing the legal binding title of the contract will only do just that. It isn’t going to stop a religious marriage ceremony from happening.

One thing that has really heated the debate between marriage is the Defense of Marriage Act.

For those of you who aren’t aware of what the Defense of Marriage Act is, to sum it up simply, this law states that marriage is between a man and a woman. It is an act entirely against gay marriage. With 37 states so far approving gay marriage, 13 states still have said no to gay marriage because of this particular law. No matter how much mayors and governors and congress want to throw the Defense of Marriage Act at you, it is a violation of the constitution, more specifically, the 14th Amendment.

Section i of the 14th amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Married couples benefit more than 1000 of benefits under the law. With the Defense of Marriage Act in place, it is unconstitutionally violating the 14th amendment as it is depriving a person of equal protection of the laws. Some of the benefits of marriage are: Social security, trusts, estate planning, living in “family only” neighborhoods, receiving public assistance, insurance through spouse, filing for joint-parent or adoption, suing third person for wrongful death of spouse, visiting rights in hospitals/jails/other restricted places for immediate family only, and so much more.

The Defense of Marriage Act as well as the 14th Amendment have weaved their way through the courts. Seeing as how we can’t have more than half the nation’s states support gay rights and 13 states not support gay rights, it has been sent up to the Supreme Court. The decision on whether gay marriage will be recognized and be legal throughout all of the United States of America will be made late in June of 2015.

Honestly, I still don’t get why it’s anyone else’s business who someone decides to love. If you believe in a ‘Hell’ and that’s where you believe that the homosexuals are going when they die, so be it. Let it go. They know the fate that the bible has laid on them and it doesn’t matter one bit. Stop using biblical slurs and the word of this God to constantly put people down because their definition of love is something entirely different from what you read in a book written hundreds of years ago by men who still believed the Earth was flat.

I believe that love is love no matter who it is with, be it man and man, woman and woman or man and woman. My only stipulation to the relationship is that both people in the relationship have to consent to the relationship and it has to be a healthy relationship. If those two conditions are met, then I don’t see why those two people shouldn’t be allowed to be in love and live the rest of their lives together with the full benefits of marriage offered by the government.

I feel like love is a once in a lifetime thing and if you are lucky enough to truly find it, please don’t let it go. Love is something to fight for.