Apparently the concept of gay marriage has become this semester’s hot button on this page, so I think it’s time to ante up and give some of you nimrods the other side of the story.
Now, according to Wikipedia, homosexuality is surprisingly common in animals, especially animals evolutionarily similar to humans. Professor Janet Mann, a researcher for Georgetown University, has a theory that homosexuality in animals has a specific evolutionary purpose: to limit aggression amongst males.
That’s right, according to some people’s logic, God created homosexuality.
Now, the religious nut jobs out there who want to protect the “sanctity of marriage” need to check on a few statistics. In fact, if I hear that phrase one more time, at least in this state, I think I’m just going to fold my hand and give up my sanity. There is no more sanctity of marriage.
It’s gone, died violently gasping while Fox aired its latest round of “Who Wants to Gamble Their Hearts for Money?”.
Second of all, people touting that it’s immoral and that primarily non-Christian heathens are the cause of the moral downfall of this society need to understand one key concept: Just because someone isn’t a Christian, doesn’t mean they have no sense of morals or ethics.
That’s right, you can be a moral person and be an atheist. I’ll give you a moment to gasp and pick your jaw back up off the floor. It’s right over there, by your dignity.
And what about morals? Violent crime is at a 40-year all-time record low, according to the FBI. Sounds like some of the worst detractors of morality may have changed their tune.
For a country whose Constitution was setup to protect the minority, I’m amazed that most people have still failed to realize that you can’t legislate morality.
Here’s a quote to ponder: “In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.
“Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the Common Law.” Or how about this one: ““The American nation is in no way founded upon Christian doctrine.” Want to know who said the first one? Thomas freaking Jefferson, 1814. The second quote? George freaking Washington, in the Treaty of Tripoli.
But in a society with a doctrine for separation of Church and State, one of the most important of our laws stating that Congress shall not act in establishing a state religion, and a couple hundred years of precedence in showing why this has worked pretty well, we’re pretty much a haven for people to worship whom or what they please, without getting in each others way.
You can’t legislate morality, you can only reaffirm inherent societal drives for criminal acts, such as “outright murder is bad,” or “don’t rape people,” to name a couple of examples. And, if I had money I’d bet you that if you took a poll asking anyone if outright cold-blooded killing was wrong, you wouldn’t hear a single yes, unless you were cold-calling nut-cases in Montana or Wyoming. Gay marriage and the ethical nature of homosexuality, however, aren’t as solid bets.
There’s quite a few more people than zero who believe that it’s not wrong, and that gay marriage is actually a case of providing equality, especially in terms of some of the health insurance, patient rights, naming of beneficiaries, and next of kin caveats that laws simply don’t provide for.
Ultimately, if we’re going to be a country that espouses equality and liberty, then we can’t do it half-way. But if we truly want to provide equality, religious hard-liners need to understand that once they’re perfect, they can start telling other people how to live their lives.
Here’s to gambling with minority rights in America.
Originally printed in the Daily O’Collegian October 31st, 2005.
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