Gay Marriage & Church/State Separation
Such an amendment would be founded upon a religious and biblical doctrine; thus, at least a portion of our Constitution would no longer reflect secular values and public desires but religious values and divine commands. As a column in USA Today explains, the fight against gay marriage is fundamentally religious in nature — those who oppose it do so for religious reasons and based upon religious doctrines. That is fine so long as they fight to make sure that their churches don’t perform or sanction gay marriage, but it is not a valid basis for keeping the secular government from doing so:
Like it or not, the USA is firmly rooted in the principle of separation of church and state - despite recent attempts to blur that distinction. A constitutional amendment would profoundly alter that founding intention. While I want to believe that the proposed amendment is unlikely to become law, the mere fact that such a movement is afoot is alarming. Its archaic language would further institutionalize discrimination against gays.
Also alarming is the fact that the rhetoric used by conservatives to inflame passions against gay marriage also inflames bigotry and intolerance for gays generally. Gay marriage and gay sex are equated with a variety of crimes while gay relationships are denigrated in every way possible. There is simply no mistaking the fact that the gays are being deliberately portrayed as not being worthy of full equality and citizenship, simply because they are gay.
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Comments
I’d like to point out the fact that whether anyone likes it or not, marriage is religious. If the government is controlling marriage, then that itself is a direct violation of separation of church and state. So much for being “…firmly rooted in the principal of separation of church and state…”
Your marriage may be religious in nature; mine is not, however, nor is there any requirement that it be religious. The fact that I am married without religion playing any role in it whatsoever demonstrates beyond any doubt that your assertion is false.
In America, marriage can be civil, religious, or both. The same is true in most countries.
Marriage is not religious..LOL…When 2 people get married their taxes are lowered for this simple fact…When you need to get married to lower your taxes or whatever, you don’t look up at the sky and say oh lord and savior..no..you look at your government.