BY SHARON MARTIN
When a couple gets a marriage license from the state, whether a minister or a judge reads the vows, they have entered into a civil union. The state does not confer sacrament. Only the church [or synagogue or mosque] can do that. So, if a church wishes to deny marriage to gay couples, it is the church’s right. But, should the state be able to deny any two adults of sound mind the right to enter into a civil contract? That’s the real debate.
The fight against gay marriage is about money. Corporations and states don’t want to provide spousal benefits to the partners of their gay employees. Because they don’t want to appear as cheapskates, politicians and business owners have enlisted the religious to fight their battle for them by framing it as a religious issue. It isn’t.
About 10% or 11% of the population of every country are homosexual. As long as these things have been measured and recorded, it has been this way. More of them may be visible today, but the percentage hasn’t changed.
Before the Civil War, slaves, too, were denied the right of marriage. The family lives of slaves got in the way of commerce.
Some “people of faith” believed that a Christian could not enslave a Christian, so they denied Christianity to their slaves. Their greed was stronger than their ethics. Humans have always been able to delude themselves for their own ends. Some churches today treat their gay parishioners in the same way slave owners treated their property. Not only do they wish to keep them from their legal right of contract, they wish to keep them from their churches. They have that right, but it brings up questions.
Maybe you are convinced that homosexuality is a choice. When did you choose to be heterosexual? I didn’t choose heterosexuality. It chose me. Was it different for you?
Maybe it’s something else entirely. Are you one of those who must have someone on whom to look down? There are better choices for your distaste than gay people, many of whom have made amazing contributions to art, science, and civilization. Hate pedophiles who prey on and abuse children of both sexes. Abhor men who beat their wives. Look down on mean people; chances are approximately 10% of these less-than-decent humans might even be gay.
– Sharon Martin lives in Oilton, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer
