[GCFL-discuss] Marriage

[gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net]

I am not in favor of redefining marriage. It is not exactly true that
throughout human history it has always been one man and one woman. Jacob
had two wives and several concubines, King David had a whole harem of
wives, so did Solomon, who also wrote the only erotic poetry to appear in
the Bible. But, for most of the past 2000 years, one man and one woman
has been the accepted state of marriage for most people in most of three
or five continents. Even in cultures that accepted and even honored
homosexual relationships (ancient Greece, Persia, some east African
peoples) they have always been something different from marriages.

I was relieved when the Supreme Court ruled that individuals have a right
to privacy which a state may not break by passing criminal penalties for
private homosexual acts between consenting adults. Its just not the
government's business, and the police have much more important things to
do.

It would be OK with me if the government got out of the marriage business
entirely, licensed civil unions without regard to whether they were
heterosexual, homosexual, or nonsexual in nature -- and leave it up to
each church to bless, or not bless, whatever marriage is acceptable to
that church. (Metropolitan Baptists churches would of course bless
homosexual unions, but Missionary and Freewill Baptists undoubtedly would
not do so ever for any reason. Both have an ironclad constitutional right
to make that decision, without any government interference whatsoever).

That could be complicated. In the meantime, if homosexual couples miss
out on some benefits that marriages enjoy, so what? Life isn't perfect. I
don't believe equal protection of the laws applies, and I don't believe
the positive recognition of any union as a "marriage" should be extended
as a right by the courts. If a majority of the people of any state are
willing to do that, through the legislative process, so be it.

Siarlys


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