I write about politics; I write about Christianity; I live in New York. As much as I don’t want to, I feel I need to write something about the same-sex marriage law that was recently passed here. I can almost all but guarantee I’m going to offend someone — won’t this be fun. Some will accuse me of being closed minded, while some might throw a Bible at me. I’m not very passionate about this topic, so I’m just going to lay it out as I see it, and most likely (as I normally do) take things a little farther than I probably should.
My first (honest) reaction to the same-sex marriage bill: “We’ll it’s about time”. Seriously… people should be able to marry and live with who ever they want to. The government should have NO say in our romantic lives — regardless of context. Also if the government is going to extend any benefits or breaks to one type of couple then they should certainly be extended to same-sex partners, or multiple partners, or who-ever. It’s called consistency and in order for a government to be just, consistency must be rampant.
Just keeping it real.
From a Christian perspective… I don’t really feel that this bill passage is anything to get up in arms about. Why are Christians so taken a-back when non-Christians want to do things that aren’t… well… Christian? The passage of this bill shouldn’t be a shock, and it’s not going to change your beliefs any more than the non-passage of this bill would keep two people in love from expressing it.
The only caveat to my argument would be these marriages would have to be preformed in a non-religious context and couldn’t (technically) be preformed in a “Christian” ceremony — but realistically I don’t see this being requested too often.
In fact, outside of a religious significance, I don’t understand the institution of marriage in general. Marriage was something ordained and performed by God when he brought Adam and Eve together. If you don’t believe in this initial coupling, why believe in the merit of marriage at all? Without that belief there is literally no significance.
I’ll put it bluntly… if you’re not a Christian, and you were married in a religious context, instead of reciting vows before God you might as well have stood up at the front of the church and sang the Oscar Meyer Weiner Song. Either instance would have had the same impact on your spiritual life.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Hey Paul,
I always appreciate you honest engagement with serious matters. If there was a like button for this post, I would click on it.
Thanks for the comment Jody. That’s all the “liking” I need.
Clear thinking, Paul. You summarized what’s inevitably going to take me several posts to articulate. Of course, you should know that I’ll be linking to this post, so that if people do throw anything at me I’ll remind them to toss a few in your direction as well…
Jeremy
As always, people are always free to share. And I can certainly appreciate some “Link Love”.
I’m posting this excerpt here because your post brought it to mind. Several years ago I read an article by Camille Paglia, a well-known and well-written liberal thinker/author, in Salon Magazine. Her thoughts on this subject were so succinct in a single paragraph, it was burned on my memory. Enjoy…
“I may be an atheist, but I respect religion and certainly find it far more philosophically expansive and culturally sustaining than the me-me-me sense of foot-stamping entitlement projected by too many gay activists in the unlamented past. My position has always been (as in “No Law in the Arena” in my 1994 book, “Vamps & Tramps”) that government should get out of the marriage business. Marriage is a religious concept that should be defined and administered only by churches. The government, a secular entity, must institute and guarantee civil unions, open to both straight and gay couples and conferring full legal rights and benefits. Liberal heterosexuals who profess support for gay rights should be urged to publicly shun marriage and join gays in the civil union movement.”
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/camille_paglia/2008/12/10/hillary_mumbai/index2.html
Jeremy, This sums up my exact thoughts much better than I articulated them. There should be two very distinct and untouched types of marriage.
i agree…..with all of that
Very well stated Paul.