Every argument against gay marriage comes down to one word, god. God wants, god needs, god says, god is, god told me so. Even though the religious right would like to say otherwise, god is not a reason to oppress an entire group of people; that never turns out well. Our founders knew god and government mix as well as chlorine and ammonia. All of the arguments the proponents of California's Prop 8 use to try to justify this California amendment outside the bible don't hold water and biblical arguments have no place in government. Even though I find their point of view repugnant, I would like to address some of the arguments I've heard from the Prop 8 supporters and set them to bed.
Marriage is for procreation:
Marriage must be annulled if they have not conceived within 2 years: If marriage is for procreation then we should also annul any marriage that does not end with the production of children within a predetermined time. Marriage is a contract of fertility with society so those who can't seem to make it work have violated our contract and must be forced to end their marriage.
The sterile should not be allowed to marry: Since there is absolutely no chance they will be able to have children, their goal for marriage cannot be procreation and therefore cannot enter a marriage.
Senior citizens should not be allowed to marry: Since all senior citizen women and most of the men are beyond the age to produce children or to carry them to term, seniors must not be allowed to marry.
People unwilling to have children should not be allowed to marry: Not having a child is a choice made by many couples. Since they are not willing to have children, and procreation is the purpose of marriage, they must not be allowed to marry.
Marriages that stop producing children should not be allowed to stay married: When procreation is the goal, even if those who have procreated in the marriage stop reproducing, they have violated our contract with them and their marriage must be annulled.
Marriage preserves the family unit:
Divorce still happens: No matter your religious beliefs, divorce happens. Being married is no assurance that a relationship is strong enough to last the test of time. People still leave their god-sanctioned relationships. Marriage, as it currently stands, doesn't assure any stability for anyone, only hard work and commitment do.
Preservation isn't always a good thing: Many people are trapped in terrible marriages because of their religious beliefs. I knew a woman who believed she had to stay married to her child molesting husband because her church told her that divorce was not allowed in any situation.
A married mother and father are necessary to raise happy, healthy children:
Children who have one deceased parent should be removed from the other's care: That's right, if a kid needs both a mother and a father, if no other options can be considered, in the event of the death of one of the parents, the other parent cannot be fit to care for them alone and the child must be reassigned to an appropriate parental unit.
Unwed pregnancies should be forced into abortion because there is no way a family not consisting of a married man and woman can raise a child effectively, and we must consider the best interest of the child not yet born: If not an abortion, then the baby should be removed, even if the mother refuses because children can only be happy and healthy in a traditional family situation.
Divorced parents should have their children taken away and given to married couple:. Since a married mother and father are necessary to have non-damaged children, we must protect children from divorced couples and put them into the care of those who can raise them to be happy.
Active duty military members should not be allowed to have children because they are often gone from their family for prolonged periods of time and have a high risk of death: In the event they are gone for a prolonged period of time or die, their children will have to be removed from the care of the other spouse and must be placed in the care of a couple who has a mother and father available.
Unhappy, unhealthy children come from traditional families: Try as they might, even traditional families get it wrong. A traditional marriage is no guarantee of good child rearing.
Marriage needs protection:
Marriage is such a weak institution that it needs protection: If marriages are allowed to go gay, the institution of marriage might fizzle into obscurity because its meaning is so diluted that it no longer has value.
God doesn't want gay marriage and we should always follow god's law:
No more poly cotton blends: The bible says we should not wear clothing of mixed fabric so we must outlaw poly cotton blends because it is against god's will.
Stone your daughter, it's the godly thing to do: Yup, that's what god says so we should make it the law.
Goodbye McDonalds: The laws of kosher make clear that cheeseburgers are an abomination and we must outlaw them.
Burn a witch, it's fun and justified: Since we are following god's law as our law, light the faggots (a bundle of sticks used to burn witches, for all you who don't know) because the witches are going to burn.
No more Christmas wish lists: Coveting is a no-no and we should not be allowed to wish for those things others have. Sorry retailers, no more overspending at Christmas.
Ten percent of your money has to go to the church: Tithing is very clearly spelled out in the bible, 10% of your money goes to the church. Since we are now following gods law, give up your trip or Starbucks, you're giving to the church now.
Yes, you do look fat in that: No more lying even to preserve the feelings of other people, the bible says do not bear false witness so we can no longer do so.
Treat your slaves well: Guess we have to get slaves again, don't worry black folks, we'll choose a different race this time around.
Don't cut your hair, it pisses god off: All you "clean cut is better" folks obviously haven't read the bible. God wants us to keep our hair long and curly.
Gods laws are our laws and we should follow them to the letter: AJ Jacobs in his Ted Talk "Year of living biblically" outlines how impossible it is to live by all the laws in the bible because he did it, for an entire year. Even if we could, we have a separation of church and state for a reason.
Prop 8 institutionalizes discrimination into the constitution of a state. Prop 8 will leave the next generation with the same disgusting feeling that George Wallace does for decent people now. You can hide behind the god argument as the segregationists and racists of the 1950's and 1960's did and stand behind them as a villain in the annals of history or you can be a decent person who will be seen as a brave citizen willing to stand up for all people, even those different from you. If you vote for Prop 8, you will be as wicked as those southerners of the civil rights era, your children and grandchildren will look to you with shame in their eyes. Californians, do you want to be remembered as the state of bigots or the brave?
First Published - Oct 21, 2008
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