The subject of gay marriage being legalized has been a hot button issue for nigh-on forever now. Whether or not it is truly constitutional is the question and many people more eloquent than myself have made far stronger cases. However, I believe my background in religion, particularly conservative Christian, gives me a unique view on the matter which i would like to share.
Since i can remember the ethics of homosexuality has been ground into my brain as that of a mortal sin. It was one of the single most important rules of Christianity and quite difficult to break myself out of that thinking pattern. As I have lived my life i have found several flaws with those teachings. The subject of morality is not the main focus to this particular discussion. it merely mirrors the same opinion i take with constitutionality.
I developed my own personal view on religion shortly after my falling out and had a realization. I as a Christian can not tell people how to live their lives. What I believe or don't believe is UN-important to how people go about from day to day. The same can be said for our government. Gay marriage is a lifestyle choice and one that our forefathers didn't choose to think about at their time although I'm sure it existed. the government should accept and give the same rights to people regardless of their sexual orientation. this is so simple its nearly makes me brain dead. Our institution should not have the ability to say no these two consenting adults can not get married or have the same rights as a straight man and woman. this does no warm to us as a country in fact it makes us stronger. I cant believe that we even argue about this today.
After reading so many classmate's blog posts discussing the gay marriage debate,it was interesting to finally read one with your perspective on the matter. I was raised a Methodist, and appreciate much of the Christian doctrine; however, religion isn't trail mix, and I cant just pick out the parts I like and leave all the pretzels in the bottom of the bag, so I converted to Deism a few years back. I'm a firm believer of the "Golden Rule" or, as Jesus' disciple, Matthew, so eloquently puts it: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" Matthew 7:12(NIV).Love, compassion, and forgiveness is what Christianity is all about, especially if we're kicking it New Testament; With these principles in tact,as you said, it is so simple to see that every person deserves the same quality of life, and that not distributing the rights and freedoms of a select few doesn't correlate with the Constitution or the bible. I have hope that more conservative Christians will have realizations such as you did, and understand that just as we have the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution for the conflicts of today's society, the Bible should not be taken literally, for it was written in a very different time, and special consideration should be made when basing beliefs off of scriptures. As far as the Constitutionality of gay-marriage, it is a decision to be made by the states. So long as the states choose to allow gay marriage, it is constitutional. DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) is completely un-constitutional because it bypasses the states and brings the issue to a national level, and for this reason, it was brought to the attention of the Supreme Court. Will gay-marriage become legal? Well, if the Supreme Court makes the right ruling, state-wide voting will make that decision.
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