Marriage. It’s the topic of much contention in our great state of California of late. As someone who ascribes emphatically to the belief that EVERYONE should have the right to bond their lives to whichever consenting adult they choose, it’s mind boggling to me that anyone would see fit to strip that right from a select few. I find it both fascinating and ridiculous that some of the religious folks of the world, who seem to lay exclusive claim to marriage and all of its parameters, apparently think that allowing gays to marry would denigrate the institution and somehow threaten the sanctity of their own marriages.
That said, I direct the following to those frightened folks:
I have to believe that you are aware that people marry everyday for money. Individuals cut deals to marry for one or the other’s ability to gain citizenship. Pairs plan hasty nuptials in Vegas chapels and dingy courtrooms because of jealousy, control & unplanned pregnancies. Most of these unions lacking sanctity, devoid of love, absent friendship and devotion…taking place every day, over and over and over. People you don’t know. People you’ll never meet. Crimes against the “sanctity” of marriage taking place on a regular basis. But hallelujah, these crime sprees are being carried out by a man and a woman, so we can all call it good.
So I ask you…did you wake up any less married today because maybe someone a few blocks away married out of necessity? Are the vast numbers of marriages of convenience decreasing the significance of that band of gold on your hand? Do your marital vows now wobble, weakened by the blows the institution of marriage endures every single day at the hands of, GASP, heterosexual couples?
Where are your sanctimonious marches against the heterosexual people of the world who treat the act of marriage like a means to an end? Why aren’t your picketed masses huddled in the parking lots of Sin City’s drive through chapels or at the studios where shows like “Hitched or Ditched” and “Who Wants To Marry My Dad” are taped?
I’ll tell you why. You all say that you are interested in “protecting marriage” but you’re not. You’re only interested in keeping it away from gay people while the heteros of the world, who commit felonious acts against the institution everyday, go unchallenged by the hypocritical throngs of your religious “in” crowd. You’re divisive about homosexuals because they aren’t like you and because for whatever reason you’ve decided that it’s okay to give more weight to whatever part of the bible you interpret as saying that homosexuality is wrong and less weight to the do untos and the judge nots. The hypocrisy is astounding.
But thank Heavens (pun intended) there is an answer!
Marriage is a religious rite. That said, the religious groups of the world should be allowed to lay exclusive claim to it and to define its limitations and boundaries. But get it OUT of government and give it back to the churches. The framers of our great nation were quite emphatic about a clear and defined separation of church and state. With this issue upon us it is now easy to see that in retrospect, it was a terrific mistake to integrate marriage into the civic fray and to attach to it tax breaks and insurance coverage laws and the like.
So out it should come. Get your religious rite out of my government! Marriage should be returned as a religious rite to the religions and churches of the world and a marriage ceremony should serve only to sanctify a union in the eyes of their God and their church and not to legalize it. If anyone and I do mean ANYONE wants to legally bind themselves to one another, it’s civil unions for all, gay or straight, period. This would allow certain religions who are more open minded and open-hearted to sanctify gay unions if they choose and then those that do not choose to do so would not have their tax-exempt status threatened.
It’s a win/win. Free lawn signs for all.
