BY SHARON MARTIN

In America, any two adult citizens of sound mind can enter into a contract. Marriage is a contract. Do you see where I’m going with this?

In a democratic republic like ours, who can deny consenting adults the right to enter into a contract? That is exactly what rigid definition-of-marriage laws do.

Will we have a referendum now that denies folks the right to form business partnerships? It’s as logical as denying some couples the right to a marriage contract.

Likewise, who gets to choose how many children a woman bears? Sex is a natural phenomenon; we aren’t going to stop it from happening. But with political intervention, we can stop family planning.

Who gives politicians that right?

It seems that we do, by voting in people who tout conservatism.

Conservative used to mean fiscally responsible. I’m a fiscal conservative. Now it is code for messing in the personal lives of constituents and avoiding the really hard work of balancing budgets and funding essential services. Enough already!

Churches have every right to deny the sacrament of marriage to any couple. They can advocate, wrongly or not, that parishioners leave family planning up to God or happenstance.

They shouldn’t be allowed to advocate government policy, though, any more than the government of the people should be able to deny citizens the right to marry and manage their own lives.

Our individual freedoms and hard-won civil rights are being trampled by folks who think they know better than we do how we should live our lives. It’s time for politicians to attend to the common good and quit micromanaging [meddling in] our personal lives. Perhaps they misunderstand what freedom means.

President Obama’s acknowledgement that any two people should have the right to marry is a positive step, and I salute him for his brave stance.

We all should salute him, regardless of how we feel about the institution of marriage. He is standing up for all of us, because the next freedom the meddlers go for may be one that you cherish.

– Sharon Martin lives in Oilton, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer