Lately the issue of Gay Rights has come up a lot in conversations I have had and on Facebook. I saw a post today that was particularly disturbing in which Kirk Cameron told CNN that gay marriage would destroy civilization! I commented a very abrreviated version of my view point on that and decided to let it rest. However, as a have been walking around the house doing laundry and dishes and coloring with my daughter, I have been stewing on it and wondering how my life would be if I had been told by our culture that I couldn't have all of this. I haven't "blogged it out" in a while and have been waiting for the perfect semi-controversial (that's my favorite to write about) issue to come along. Well, here it is. Gay marriage. The perfect thing bring my blog back to life! Disclaimer: I have a lot to say and will try to keep this as cohesive as possible. Bear with me if i start to rant!
First of all, most people will say they don't support gay marriage because God doesn't support gay marriage. For this I will refer you to back to my blog post about the Bible. While I believe it was divinely inspired, the Bible was ultimately written (and more importantly edited) by man. I'm sure man's biases had to make their way in there somewhere. To err is human after all. Now I don't mean we don't have to follow the Word and we can just do whatever we want, but at some point we have to use the common sense God gave us and take things with a grain of salt to bring it up to date with today's culture. If you will read Leviticus, there are A LOT of laws written there that we today would find proposterous. Since I am not a theologian and have not studied the Bible as much as I should I will let you draw your own inferences there.
For me though, gay marriage is an issue of basic civil rights. I think people should be allowed to marry whomever they choose. It is not my place to tell you who I think it is "ok" for you to marry. I don't think we should be so arrogant as to assume we could tell anyone who they should or should not marry or who is or isn't "right" for them. That is a very personl decision for everyone and they should have the RIGHT to make it for themselves. Furthermore, who someone decides to marry has absolutly no affect on my life whatsoever, so who am I to make that decision for them?
I was blessed enough to meet, fall in love with, and marry my wonderful husband Chuck. We have two beautiful children and a mortgage. The American Dream! I still remember the day and time I fell in love with him. It wasn't a conscious choice I made. It just happened and I knew nothing would ever change how I felt about him. I was thrilled when he asked me to marry him and eager to start our lives together. I can't imagine someone coming between us (especially the government) and telling me that we couldn't get married because the majority of the society that I lived in said they were uncomfortable with it. I don't expect you would appreciate that much either...I'm afraid my feelings would be hurt and I would feel like a complete outcast. I hope I never make someone feel that way. I couldn't sleep at night.
More than just a marriage license, a legal marriage provides the couple with more rights under the law. We can get life insurance on each other to protect our lively hood. We can make medical decisions for each other in the event of an emergency. We can file our taxes jointly and help our income. As well as many other "perks" of being legally wed. A gay couple can spend thier entire lives together and not have these things. They may not know about things like power of attorney laws and living wills that are offered automatically to straight, married couples.
A short piece on gay adoption and then I'm almost done....Wouldn't you rather a child be in the loving arms of a family who loves and supports them thier whole lives than to have a child grow up in state custody and foster homes then age out at 18 years old and be on their own with no one. Which child do you think has the better chance to become a productive member of society rather than a drain on it?
So, if I haven't convinced you to change your vote in support of gay rights, fine. Just do me a favor. When you crawl into bed at night beside your husband or wife, hug them tighter and thank God that society agreed that it was ok for you to get married.