Why Gay Marriage is Bad

Vermont recently overrode Governor Douglas' veto of same sex marriages.

I'd like to point out that an outstanding majority of people opposed to same sex marriage are very religious and many see it as redefining a sacred institution. A sacred, religious institution that is deeply embedded with rights granted through government. Many religious people also ignore and deny the separation of church and state which was reiterated in a series of court hearings such as Reynolds versus the United States and McCollum versus the Board of Education. I've also read arguments that identified Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptist Church as not bringing about the separation of church and state, which when read is clearly outlining the separation. He write's: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State," (Jefferson). It can be understood in the establishment clause of the United States Constitution found here that it was purposeful to separate the two and with a glance back at history should be maintained. This separation has given our country a lot of power to enable everyone to gain the rights that were left to be fought for by minorities overlooked when establishing themselves in a country of equality. As there are a lot of different arguments, I think that it is safe to say religion should be left to the individual, their God and their Church, not to oppress other peoples right to marry. The stigma in society of homosexuality was brought about by religion. If you look into the history of Ancient Greece you will see that homosexuality was an accepted practice until it was outlawed in Rome when Christianity gained power.

It is also believed that same sex marriage is bad for children and would be harmful taking away their right to a mom and a dad. In a society that is full of children without any parents at all, this seems ridiculous. Artificial insemination is also looked down upon for women in a committed relationship with another woman. How is giving a child life and being raised by two women bad? They never would have been given life if they hadn't been artificially inseminated. It is only an expectation of our society that a child should be granted a mom and a dad, even when divorce rates are high. So many children in this world would love to have two parents or even a single parent. If you google "same sex parenting" you will find little evidence that there is a harmful effect on children from having same sex parents. In return, you will find studies that show that same sex parents are just as good as heterosexual parents.

Last night aired the pageant competition, Miss USA, in which one of the contestants, Miss California, said that she believed that marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman, not same sex. In return she has been faced with a lot of negative attention. Past Miss USA winners have even come forward advocating for same sex marriage. I think that this shows that our society is making a turn around. This issue has had a lot of attention in recent political and social spheres. When religious and sacred meaning is taken out of the picture people realize that homosexuality and same sex marriage is not an evil curse on society.

When it comes to the argument of letting "the people" decide on same sex marriage I would like to put forth this from The Transformation of American Religion by Alan Wolfe. "Democracy, liberals of this persuasion believe, is a wonderful form of government, but when it comes to protecting the rights of religious minorities or nonbelievers, a nondemocratic institution like the courts is required to keep it in check," (257 Wolfe). A mixed constitution of the many, the one and the few creates a balance of power. This is why we have a mixture of types of governments, a democracy (legislative), a monarchy (president), and an aristocracy (judiciary). They keep each other in check and protect the rights of the minorities.