February 24, 2024Gay Marriage Round-UpThe topic of the afrenoon is clearlt gay marriage. I have numerous posts on the subject below, and here are some Blogospheric responses Comments
I would defend to the death someone’s right to say things I disagree with, to preserve the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. And I may disagree with them, but I would also defend to the death someone’s right to be a Baptist and to be married as a Baptist, as an Atheist— or even a Satanist— to preserve the First and Fourteenth Amendments protections of religious freedom and equal protection. Regardless of my feelings about homosexuals, I would defend to the death their right to equal protection and their right to marry who they choose, as I would for anyone. The issue isn’t gay rights or the sanctity of marriage. The issue is this: would you defend the rights of someone you disagree with to preserve your own freedom, your own rights, and The Constitution of the United States? What is more important: your particular religious beliefs, or the document that protects your right to have them? I want to live my life as a free man, in a free country, that protects the rights of all people—including people I disagree with or even despise. How can anyone hate another person more than they love their country or their Constitution? The sanctity of marriage under God should be left up to individual houses of worships. The right of marriage under the state is none of the business of you or your church. That is a civil, secular concern between two people who love each other, and the state bound by social contract to protect them. Sanctity-- the sacred-- is not within the legitimate scope of the government. The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” It is illegal for the government to regulate the sacred, and it is frightening to think it can be subject to popular vote. How dare anyone suggest that "The People" have a right to vote to infringe the liberty of another group of people? Majority rule isn't American Democracy. We are a Democratic Republic. Majority rule is Mob Rule. Equal protection is for everyone, whether they have been born a different color, have been born gay, or have made a different choice than we would have liked. And separate is never equal. In this state, Baptists are a minority. Yet, nobody has called for a referendum on the rights of Baptists to marry other Baptists. Don't Baptists deserve equal rights and equal protection under the law, even though they are not a racial minority and they have chosen their particular lifestyle? Do "The People" have the right to put the value of that lifestyle to a popular vote? This is the very core of our Democracy and what it means to be an American-- Liberty and Justice FOR ALL—whether you condemn or condone them. Don’t destroy the Constitution in a short-sighted attempt to lash out in the dark against those you fear. Love thy Constitution as thyself. I heard a great plan this weekend that I think would solve this whole Those who oppose gay marriage do so because it Churches, synagogues, and other religious Everybody wins! Post a comment
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