the challange

I want someone to tell me 1 good reason why they are against gay marriage that does not have anything to do with religious beliefs.

I am sick and tired of the religious right going on a tirade about protecting the sanctity of marriage, and how gay people undermine and are a threat to traditional marriage. I’m sick to death of it.

1) Do you even know what you mean by traditional marriage? Biblically speaking it is NOT a union of 1 man and 1 woman. It is a union of 1 man and dozens of women. Or one man and one woman and concubines. Or one man and his slaves or prisoners of war. Etc. The concept of one man and one woman, you do realize, is a relatively MODERN concept.

2) The church has not been the end-all be all of marriage throughout history. Do you realize that the church did not have anything to do with marriage in the sacrament sense until the 1600s, when the Catholic church made it illegal to recognize any marriage that was not performed in a church? The fact remains that marriage is NOT a religious institution, it’s a legal contract between people that didn’t always mean consenting adults either.

3) Gay marriage is NOT a moral issue – it’s a human RIGHTS issue. I maintain that everyone has the freedom to believe whatever religious beliefs they want. I will fight for your right to have freedom of religion all day long, even if I disagree with you on your religion. However, that does not mean that you have the right to impose or force your religious views on everybody else, and force your dogma and your beliefs down other people’s throats. If you don’t agree with homosexuality and you don’t like gay marriage, it’s simple. Don’t have one. Marry someone of the opposite sex. Do whatever you want. But don’t tell me I’m not allowed to get married simply because you disagree with it.

4) This country is NOT a religious nation. It was founded as a secular nation. According to the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796 “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.” and the first amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” What a lot of people fail to understand is that this country was established not only for freedom OF religion, but also freedom FROM religion. They did not want the religious beliefs and doctrines of England to be forced upon others with differing doctrines or beliefs, so they left. Yet this is EXACTLY what a lot of christians today are doing on other groups. Many of the founding fathers (who were deists or outright atheists, incidentally – and the few that did say they were “christian” kept their beliefs private, they had NOTHING to do with their political responsibilities) would turn over in their graves to see political candidates pandering to the sympathies of religious groups and proclaiming their personal faith like a badge of honor. It’s repugnant.

5) Gay rights are NOT impeding on anyone else’s rights or marriages. If you want to get married in a church, go do it! I am not saying that the government should force churches to perform gay marriages. No one is arguing for that. I’m willing to keep my rights out of your church – but keep your church out of my rights in return.

5) There is no threat to “traditional” (please see above) marriage. How does my marriage or what I do in my bedroom affect you? It doesn’t. I don’t care what you do in the privacy of your own home. I don’t care what you do in your church. I don’t care what you teach your children. I don’t care about what you believe in at all. Why is the religious right in this country so sex-obsessed and homophobic that they think what I choose to do with my own life will affect them? Get over yourselves. Seriously. And stop obsessing about what gay people do in their bedrooms. It’s none of your business. If you really want to “protect” the sanctity of marriage – why don’t you outlaw divorce? Or start killing adulterers again, as your bible commands. that way we can protect marriage AND do some population control in one foul swoop. sounds like a plan, doesn’t’ it?

6) Don’t give me the whole “well if we give gay people the right to marry, then people will want to start marrying farm animals, and marrying their sisters and brothers and cousins and children etc” argument. Its overdone. You do realize that the same exact arguments were brought up once the question of interracial marriage was raised, right? And guess what? None of that happened, did it? Just because you recognize the rights of a group under the law as human beings who deserve the same civil rights and liberties you enjoy does not mean, suddenly, that anything goes. Oh, and if you are so against the concept of adults marrying children, perhaps you should reign in your priests who just molest them instead.

I have not seen one single argument against homosexuality and equal rights that does not, in some way, go back to the bible. And since christians today don’t even follow the bible (unless there are some groups out there that are still stoning adulterers – goodbye newt gingrich – or forcing rape victims to marry their rapists, or abstaining from shrimp or cotton-poly blends) it’s an argument from stupidity and prejudice, and not legal standing. Get over it. You’re going to have to eventually, anyway.

Human rights, civil rights are NOT defined by what your invisible superpower in the sky says. They are laws based on the good of society and the freedom of all people to enjoy the same abilities that others share. I don’t CARE what your invisible friend says, or how big the stick you want to whack me on the head with is. it has nothing to do with RIGHTS. Rights, as they exist, are not not found in the bible. Laws are. They are not the same thing. Get it through your head already.