I just wanted to follow up on my “Self-reflect” post. The intent of my post and poll was to point out something I realized.
I really felt for the people I heard express their worries and fears about gay marriage affecting churches and schools. Just as I believe that I have the freedom to live without religion in my life, I believe that those who are religious have the right to practice their religion any way they want to, so long as it is not inforced on anyone else. And just as I don’t want it taught to MY daughter in school that marriage is only between a man and woman, I don’t want it taught to any unwilling person that marriage can be between any two individuals. I don’t believe school is the place to teach about marriage.
Then one day I thought: “if there were a way to make these two issues impossible, how would people vote then?” So, I asked a few people that question. To no surprise I was answered with things like: “Homosexuality is morally wrong because it violates Gods laws” and “God created marriage to be between a man and a woman.” Wait wait wait… Aren’t those religious beliefs? They are! Which goes against the Constitution of the United States.
Here are my issues, and this is why I still cannot accept it when a person believes gay marriage should be illegal.
You have the right to believe that homosexuality is morally wrong [for you] because it violates “God’s” laws. I like the saying “don’t like gay marriage? Don’t have one.” But believing gay marriage violates God’s laws is a religious belief. Voting according to such is forcing a religious belief on other citizens. Which is wrong. The first amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
I also had the “pleasure” of reading some of my reader’s comments. I know that not everyone who voted for prop 8 was religious. But I still beg to know, how would a non-religious individual logically vote against gay marriage? A response I got to that question was “[non-religious people] want to prohibit gay marriage because It's sick… Gay marriage is sick because two people of the same sex are having sex.” I’m not the smartest person, nor have I claimed to be, but I’m pretty darn sure that this is the stupidest train of logic I have ever seen.
I know I come from a family that is predominantly Mormon, but I live in a place that isn’t heavily populated by Mormons and have had the pleasure to surround myself with intelligent, free thinking individuals in the last few months. Many of them lawyers, some conservatives, none of them Mormons, but all of them have been for gay marriage.
My point I am hoping to make with these posts is to hopefully strike a nerve in some of my pro-prop 8 readers that it’s ok to feel gay marriage is wrong, for you. But it’s not OK to vote that way, especially due to an ingrained religious belief.
My awesome husband told me something the other day. He told me that after going through law school, specifically Constitutional law, that it was very hard for him to justify feeling that gay marriage should be illegal. And that after that point, he couldn't justify it. He was very Mormon then.
I personally don’t feel that gay marriage should even be an issue citizens vote on. To me it’s clear that it’s a civil right. In the Declaration of Independence, citizens have the inalienable right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” so long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. The phrase "pursuit of happiness" appeared in the 1967 Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, where Chief Justice Warren wrote:“The freedom to marry (marry, nowhere does it define marriage as a man and woman) has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”
Again, it is ok for you to personally believe that marriage was created by God. It’s ok for you to personally believe that God created that marriage to be between a man and a woman. What I do not believe to be ok is to cover up your beliefs with claims that churches and schools will be affected. I do not believe it to be ok to vote in a way that pushes a part of your religion on other people. Please understand these basic concepts. Think and vote accordingly.
2 comments:
Homosexuality is a perversion. It always has been and always will be. This country was built and founded because of desire for religious freedom. If we are to have integrity, which you so value, than we have to vote according to what we believe. Gay marriage would affect others, not just themselves because it would tear down society. It has been proven by the Romans and the cities Sodom and Gomorrah. Why do you think anal sex is called sodomy? The anus was not designed for intercourse. It is a medical fact that homosexual men have a shorter life span because of anal sex. It is a sick perversion, not something that decent people should have to accept as normal. If all of society were gay, we would cease to exist. It seems like a no brainer to me. (I copied this to a separate document because I bet you will delete my comments)
Why would you think I will delete your comments? I don't delete comments. Even the really illogical ones.
You're right, this country was founded on religious freedom. You have the religious freedom to gather at your church, and talk about how homosexuality is wrong over your pulpit. But I don't see it as right to enforce your religious belief on others. Just because you have religious freedom, doesn't mean you can take your religion and enforce it on society through voting.
I don't believe gay marriage will destroy society. Here's why- you can't prove it. It's only a speculation. About a year ago I tried to do a research paper on how gay marriage would destroy society, to do so I had to have some kind of evidence or other research to back it up. There is none. You claim that gay marriage has destroyed societies, but it's not true. I know because I looked. It was my full time interest to try to find evidence that gay marriage has destroyed societies in the past. First of all, Sodom and Gomorrah is a biblical story. The historical existence of that place hasn't ever been proven. So since I don't believe in the Bible, I can't rely on that as proof, because the bible has never been proven true. It's just whether you believe it or not.
I have looked and have never found any evidence of Roman societies that were destroyed by gay marriage. If you can back that up with facts, that would be appreciated. I really am interested in knowing about these societies that were destroyed by gay marriage.
You talk about gay men, but what about gay women? What's the harm in women being gay? I know that gay men have a shorter life span, but I don't see that as proof that gay marriage should be illegal. What about the male prostate being penitrated through the anus? That's a great sense of pleasure for a man. And what about married husbands and wifes doing anal sex? Should that be illegal too? What about the mouth? That wasn't designed for sexual purposes, should we not allow blow jobs or felacio. And what about breasts? Those were created to feed our babies. Should men not take sexual arousal to those?
To you, homosexuality is a perversion. But I really believe you only believe that because of your religious foundation.
IF all society were gay, we would not produce babies through natural conception. IF we all decided to be gay, we have the science to reproduce without intercourse. BUT- we're NOT all gay! I'm not gay. You're not gay. Millions of people are just not gay. Saying that if we legalize gay marriage, that everyone will be gay is illogical. It just won't happen. Rosie O'donnell is gay and adopted a son who is now a straight teenager. Massachusetts has gay marriage. Their society is thriving! They have better statistics on divorce than almost every other state. They continue have heterosexual marriages. They continue to conceive and bare children.
This is one of my problems with religion, especially Mormonism. I don't like their mentality of being the one and only truth- therefore everyone else is wrong. It's too cocky and too prideful. I wish more Mormons could say "This is right for me. Just because it's right for me, doesn't make it right for you."
Post a Comment