So, the big news here is the State of North Carolina passing
an amendment to their state constitution declaring that marriage is between a
man and a woman. The amendment is
stated in affirmative language, a technicality, which to some means it’s not
discriminating, but rather affirming of what already is the law. However, by stating that marriage is
between a man and woman, of course, that precludes gay marriage from being
possible.
Gay marriage.
The subject kind of pisses me off.
I mean no offense to those who are deeply effected by this issue, it’s
just that it doesn’t effect the majority of us—and yet so many people get their
panties in a bunch over it. The
idea of preserving the sanctity of marriage is a joke—we had a married
President of the United States get a blowjob from a lusty wench in a blue dress
after he flavored up his cigar by dipping it in her honey pot. The divorce rates are through the
roof. Marriage is a joke. It really fucking is. It seems to me that if we want to
protect the sanctity of it, we might spend some time working on making the
houses we live in from something stronger than glass.
It’s an issue that politicians love to fight about
though. It raises passions. Gay people just want equal rights. You know—the very spirit of the
founding of our country? The
people against gay marriage play to a largely religious base and make them feel
like it’s something of which they should be afraid. And it’s a grand issue for election season. I think that’s the part people don’t
get. We’re rolling around to a
presidential election and if you think this is about the issue itself, you’re a
fool. Even though this is state
issue, not a national one, it is an issue that is a hot button and serves to
galvanize groups of people.
A Republican Party with a candidate who doesn’t have a shot
in hell of winning the presidency tries to stir the pot to make people afraid
of what they don’t know or understand and in doing so, put heat on the
incumbent president and try to trip him up and organize a vote against
him—rather than FOR their candidate.
Or, a Democrat Party who, after winning the White House and then losing
Congress fears the Republican candidate without a chance and wants to make sure
they get a second term so they stir a debate that will rally the youth vote
that was so important to electing their guy in the first place.
Pawns. We’re
pawns. The issue is a pawn. If you really think, at the end of the
day, that this is truly about gay marriage, you have the wool pulled over your
eyes, or you’re one of the people who is too closely involved in the issue to
feel the puppet masters pulling strings.
Please don’t misunderstand. It’s not that this issue isn’t important. To those who are fighting for the
simple freedom of equality, it means the world—and should. It’s just that this issue doesn’t
impact the lives of most of us. I
appreciate and applaud those who fight for equality and for basic human rights
and taken as a general subject, we should all support it. My point is simply that statistically,
the number of people who are impacted by this issue directly is very
small. Whenever that’s the case,
and an issue blows up like this one has, it’s time to look beyond the immediate
players and understand the people moving the chess pieces around the board.
The other sign that this is one thing masquerading as
another is how very simple the solution is for both sides. The government of our country needs to
get out of the marriage business.
Period. The word marriage
should be removed from all governmental files. As far as the government is concerned there should be no
such thing as marriage. All tax
advantages and other perks of being married should be removed. Our current system discriminates not
only against gay people, but single people as well. Take marriage out of the equation. There is no need for it to be anything but a
religious/sociological function.
If there is need for some documentation of legal couplings
then let’s call all of those pairings Civil Unions. Let’s let marriage be a kind of civil union—a religious
kind. Let each religion decide who
can get married for themselves. If
my religion says no and yours says yes then that’s fine. If you practice my religion but can’t
get married by their rules, start your own sect of the religion with only that
one change. If your spouse is
dying in the hospital and you want the rights to make decisions on their behalf
and any other legal benefits, get your marriage licensed as a civil union. When you talk about the sanctity of
marriage you’re talking about the sacredness or holiness of it. Those ideas aren’t a part of government
or the rights it bestows.
Government is about legalities. Religion is about spirituality. A civil union is legality. A marriage is a spiritual concept. The government that supposedly separates church and state
needs to take spiritual unions and couplings out of it’s equation. Yes. We all should be equal, but the word marriage, the buzz
word, needs to be taken out of this debate. Our government should not recognize any marriage. Not gay, not straight, not any. Our government, for the few small—yet
important—spousal rights should see coupling/pairing/legal bonding as a purely
legal issue. And the only rights
or privileges a legally bonded couple should get that the rest of us don’t have
are the ability to make decisions for one and other. There should be no legal, economic or other benefit based on
the choice to be paired with someone.
There’s no sanctity to protect in a civil union. It’s legality. There is no sanctity in legality. There is nothing to protect. Let the various religions protect
sanctity. That is their job. That is their right. That is their place. If a religion feels that marriage is
between only a man and woman, that is their right. If a religion feels that a marriage is between a man and a
man or a woman and woman, then that’s their right too. The state shouldn’t give a flying shit
what the religions consider a marriage.
If a couple wants to make their marriage legal in the eyes of the state,
they should apply for a civil union license—not a marriage license. All legal
marriages should be changed to civil unions. Marriage should not exist in the eyes of the state, except
and unless it’s been registered as a legal civil union.
One of the Pharisees once tried to trip Jesus up. He was trying to get Him to say that
people shouldn’t pay their taxes and thereby have a reason to lock him up. Jesus very wisely asked the Pharisee
who was depicted on the coins that the tax collectors took. The answer, of course, was Caesar. And Jesus said, “’Render unto Caesar
what is Caesar’s and God the things that are God’s.’ And they marveled at Him.”
Let God deal with God’s business. Let the government deal with what’s their business. It’s simple. No one gets hurt.
Everyone gets what they want.
No one forces your religion to accept gay marriage. You worship as you please. The government gives people the rights
that any human who chooses to couple should have—and no additional rights or
benefits that those who remain single are precluded from having. There’s your equality. There’s your sanctity. There’s no reason why Caesar, God and
all the rest of us can’t all be happy, and equal.
