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November 04, 2004

The Marriage Amendment

I was just reading Troy's site and thought that his rant on Gay marriage ban really hit the nail right on the head. I knew people that voted for and against the Gay marriage ban. The people who voted for the ban always said the same thing: "I believe in the sanctity of marriage, one man and one woman." The people who voted against, on the other hand, had many different reasons for doing so. The breakdown of those who voted nay is as follows:

1. Those who believed that gay people should be allowed to marry.

2. Those who were intelligent enough to read how the ban would affect others beside homosexuals, instead of voting blindly to keep gays from marrying.

3. Those who believe that no one person has a right to tell another person how their lives are to be lived, regardless of beliefs.

4. Those who believe in a separation of church and state.

Now, to me, all of these reasons to vote against the ban are extremely legit, and here's the reason why I think so:

1. Gay people want to be able to share benefits with their partner, have the right to make decisions about their partners health, have children, and so on and so forth. They just want the same things that the rest of the nation takes for granted.

2. The people who understood what the ban was about acknowledged that the scope was far too broad. Not does it affect homosexuals, but it also affects male and female domestic partnerships. Amanda and I have a domestic partnership. We can't get married until she graduates from college, otherwise she won't be able to use the free ride that she's currently on from the government. Since this ban was passed, the same things that are denied homosexuals are denied to Amanda and myself as well. I would like to say to each and every one of you who voted for this ban: thanks for being so fucking blind and ignorant.

3. I've always believed that no one should be able to tell another person how to live their life. Just because you disagree with the way someone chooses to live, doesn't mean that you have ANY right to challenge their decision and try to make their lives more difficult.

The way I look at this is simple. Imagine if you will that someone came up to you and told you that they don't like the way you're raising your child. Although your child is happy and healthy, they believe that the way you're going about raising that child is all wrong. They want you to raise the child their way. How would you respond to this?

4. This country was founded on several basic principals that are very black and white, however there are many people in the nation that see it to be very gray.

The separation from church and state is there to keep the state from influencing the church so that everyone can have freedom of religion. It's also there to keep the church from influencing the state with blind "morality". After all, we're a country with many different religions, the biggest being Christianity. Is it fair to have Christianity influencing our laws, our schools, and our children when there are Muslims, Jews, and so many other religious beliefs out there?

You know... out of all of this nonsense, I did hear ONE good argument about the ban on gay marrage. A friend of mine asked me a few weeks ago the following question:

"If gays were allowed to marry and take on benefits, how would this affect the health industry? Would our premiums go up as a result?"

The answer would most likely be yes. But, if that helps my friend get married, then by damn I'm more than willing to support their cause and put a few extra dollars towards my premium to ensure that EVERYONE has the same rights that I do.

Now THATS American.

Posted by ed at November 4, 2004 08:32 PM

Comments

Posted by: Troy Overton at November 5, 2004 09:59 AM

Posted by: eengelking at November 5, 2004 10:07 AM

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