I love my college ROTC class, but sometimes the ignorance of some people in it makes my skin crawl. For instance, recently over Spring Break I got into many heated debates about various things, such as the war in Iraq (I’m military guy and think the war is wrong), or whether Obama is a Muslim or not (he ISN’T). But the one I want to talk about right now is a controversial issue that has been fought over for years, gay marriage.
Of course living in the highly conservative south in an area dominated by military installations and red necks, most of the people in my area are venomously against the idea of two men or women getting married and receiving from the government the same rights and privileges straight couples do. There are a few reasons why they think gay marriage should be illegal, none of which hold any legal water.
1. It’s unnatural. Of course, keeping people alive on medication is also unnatural, there’s nothing natural about pain medication and such, so under that kind of logic anything unnatural should be illegal.
2. It’s a slippery slope; if gays can marry then you have to legalize polygamy and people getting married to animals. First of all, I don’t think polygamy should be illegal as long as no one is violating the natural rights of another. Show me someone’s rights being violated, and I’ll be against it. Second of all, animals cannot sign a marriage license nor can they willfully agree to marriage, so that point is irrelevant.
3. Sex should be between a man and a woman. This goes back to the whole “it isn’t natural” thing, but it’s even scarier for one reason; do you really want the government to decide who should and should not be having sex? Shouldn’t that be the decision of the individuals? What’s next? You can only have sex in the missionary position? Only if you’re married? Only if it’s to have children? THIS is the slippery slope you should be worried about.
4. It would ruin the sanctity of marriage. This, of course, is total nonsense. How is the sanctity of marriage any more ruined by two men getting married then a man and a women getting married in Los Vages and then divorcing two days later? Statistics show that half of married couples will get a divorce; does this not ruin the sanctity of marriage?
There may be other argument against it, but as far as I can see gay marriage would not impede on the natural rights of any citizen in this country, and so I see no reason to be against it.
No matter how you swing it gay marriage is not in any way wrong from a legal standpoint. I’ve asked people who are against the idea a million times who’s rights are violated by two people of the same sex getting married, and then always come out with the same predictable answers, which always boil down to, A) It’s disgusting, or B) God doesn’t like it. Neither or those beliefs are reason enough to outlaw something, to do that you must show that someone’s rights are violated by the act, and in this case you cannot. If you truly believe in a free society then you must also believe in gay marriage. You accept the premise, you must support the logical conclusion no matter what that may be, otherwise you are a hypocrite and a liar.
2 comments:
I totally agree with you on all points! No one can ever really give reasons as to how gay marriage would hurt hetero marriage. It doesn't diminish the effect of it; it merely adds another layer to who can benefit. Who should be able to benefit. After all, homosexual couplings have been around for as long as marriage for love has been around. Heck, they were around since the time marriage was a financial agreement.
One argument you missed was about raising the kids. But studies have shown that kids raised in homosexual homes are every bit as well-adjusted and cared for as kids in hetero homes, so that argument's out the window.
What it really comes down to is the "ick" factor, or "God" doesn't like it. Bleah.
PS: Why are you still trying to reason with Edward? He's such a jackass.
This one took me a while to come around to. I began against the idea, but that was mostly because of my parent’s influences who share VERY different political views than me (but I'm right, ;). After a while when I started forming my own political views I realized that gay marriage really didn't have anything to do with me, and that one way or another it wouldn't effect me, but I still couldn’t go to church and say "hey, I support gay marriage." So I was neutral for a while, neither for nor against. Then I decided it was time to take a side. There's nothing more annoying then an undecided voter, but this time I went in with the idea of the liberty principle, that if your actions don't violate someone’s rights it shouldn't be illegal. When I thought of it that way, the answer was clear.
I'm talking to ED for now, but I stopped for about 2 weeks and got bored. But I'm getting pretty bored with his blog again.
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