Not too long ago, the Massachusetts supreme court said that gays could not be refused marriage by the state. I don't feel like discussing this all that much today, but I do have one point to make. What's the state have to do with marriage to begin with? What does marriage really do for the state? The answer is taxes. That's about it. So here's my solution to all of the arguments on both sides of the issue.
espanish pussiCivil unions. That's all the state should be empowered to do. If you want certain benefits from the government, you go to a judge and get a civil union. If you want a marriage, you go to a religious organization. The government should not deny anybody a civil union. The actual genders of the couple should be irrelevant from a tax point of view. Religions can ban marriages of certain types if they'd like, or not. It's completely up to them.
As much as I dislike the phrase "separation of church and state", I think this is one place where it should be true. A marriage is a spiritual thing. A civil union is a government thing. It should be left like that. People can do either, neither, or both.
So while some people are trying to get gay marriages into law and other people are trying to get amendments to ban them, I reject both ideas. If we need any laws or amendments, they should be to separate marriage and civil unions from each other. The government should not get involved in spiritual things, and religions should stay away from the government.
Personally, I don't care what other couples are doing in their bedrooms. It's none of my business. Allowing gays to marry or not would have zero impact on any potential marriage I might have. The government shouldn't care either. Let the religious bodies decide what they will allow. If a couple of any orientation wants to get married, they will need to find somebody to perform whatever ceremony they'd like. If people want to start a family and have it be recognized as such by the state, then they should get a civil union. We're talking about two consenting humans here. As in all things, the government should be gender-blind, just as they should be race-blind or creed-blind.
Have fun filing jointly!
Posted by mrxak at January 17, 2004 12:00 AMGay Marriage
Gays who covet their neighbor’s wives seem ironic because marriage was once the target of no boundaries groups. Gays have successfully dominated the older culture and religious tradition that transmitted marriage to this century, making it almost fashionable to come out with openly gay lifestyles. Marriage, once the target for rule breaking, is called in for re-making. Mainstream gays demand changes to the established order. They want the blessing of society and a bigger piece of the American pie. Gay couples feel cheated assuming the obligations of a spouse without the financial advantages given to male and female partners. They say they pay taxes too and besides, many heterosexual marriages end in divorce.
The Catholic Church, one of the oldest and largest moral authorities in human experience, insists that homosexual acts are disordered. The word moral has a stigma now but it means what is "good" not what is "wrong." So moral is good for mankind.
Gay demands represent a shift in emphasis away from procreative interests toward sensual and emotional priorities. New attention is focused on sexual action as the core value in relationships. It represents a change in the order of priorities away from the life-giving in favor of the prurient. This is a proposal for new morality.
There are many kinds of friendly and emotional bonds between people, from family ones like cousins, uncles, and brothers, to ones outside the family like teachers, teammates, and caregivers. There are many expressions of love by taxpayers. The sexual behavior of homosexuals is the only thing that distinguishes them from other groups of cohabitating people who love each other. Rewarding only couples doing adult things together would be unfair to groups who don’t participate in these activities. The community is asked to make private gay behaviors a group priority.