It is hard to turn on the television these days and not hear a word or two about gay marriage. State ballot initiatives and legislatures around the country have attempted to both pass and deny marriage equality.
The decision of whether same sex couples should marry, however, is not the choice of the state to make.
Legally speaking, there is nothing wrong with same-sex marriage and a person’s decision to do so is protected under the Constitution to the same extent as marriage for an opposite-sex couple.
That said, 30 states have passed, in one form or another, legislation promoting the defense of marriage amendment, banning same-sex marriage and/or civil unions on the grounds that it defiles the sanctity of marriage.
Recently, there has even been a push to amend the Constitution of the United States to include a defense of marriage amendment but such an amendment (and by extension the amendments in each of the 30 states) would be unconstitutional.
The reason for this is the Bill of Rights - specifically the First Amendment. As established by the First Amendment, there is a separation of Church and State; entitling all American citizens to practice whatever faith they choose wherever they choose without imposition from the government.
The logic behind the defense of marriage amendment is that it protects the sanctity of marriage, but a quick reference to a dictionary will show sanctity has nothing to do with legality but everything to do with religion.
As it turns out religion has a lot to do with whether or not a person supports or opposes gay marriage.
Proponents of these unequal marriage amendments often cite the Bible both directly and indirectly to justify how same-sex marriage corrupts the moral fabric of society. Interestingly, religious ground for banning same-sex marriage is itself uncertain.
Despite the Bible often being cited as definitive proof that “God hates gays,” of the thousands of verses in the Bible only a handful deal with homosexuality and none specifically state that homosexuality is a sin.
While it has been argued that these few verses do in fact condemn homosexuality, the Bible has been misinterpreted many times and taken out of the ancient context in which it was written to justify wars, racism, sexism, and numerous historical and contemporary atrocities — this is no exception.
Such an intrusion of religion into a political agenda has no place in a democracy meant to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority (i.e. Christians attempting to impose their moral codes on others).
Though even with religion aside, the argument is often made that same-sex couples who adopt children condemn those children to a life of confusion and ridicule.
There is, however, no conclusive evidence to show that same-sex couples are any more detrimental to society (and their children, should they choose) than opposite-sex couples.
Same-sex or opposite-sex, there are good parents and bad ones and how prepared the parents are to raise a child factors into how well the child is raised. The parent’s orientation and the sex of his or her partner do not.
What qualifies as a blessed marriage is entirely a religious matter and differs from church to church. Whether or not a particular church decides to validate same-sex marriages is their right under the Constitution.
Just as the Bill of Rights grants citizens the right to choose their faith, it protects churches’ right to choose what beliefs that faith entails. It does not however grant churches the right — nor does the government have the right — to impose those beliefs on others.
Separation of church and state exists for good reason. The domain of same-sex marriage is a secular one, and as such lies outside the jurisdiction of any church or religious organization. So c’mon, guys: Let them eat cake.
