On Friday New York's Senate passed the gay marriage bill on a close vote of 33-29. Of course predictably both sides of this non issue are screaming. The left is screaming thank you New York, while the right is screaming this is wrong because God said so. Make of it what you will but the facts are straight forward enough. New York had a decision to make and those elected by their constituents made it. They had a right to do so and the people of New York can vote them out of office if they want to at the next election.
Welcome to America folks. Why this concerns anyone outside of New York is beyond me. It was and is a State decision to be made and that respects the states rights. For that alone we should be grateful.
I will side with New York for many reasons.
Firstly because they are by far the largest state to date to exercise their state rights. Kudos to them.
Secondly I continue to get sick of the self righteous ultra right wingers continuing to play the WWJD game. They continue to hide behind God and use the same old garbage arguments that it's against God and the bible and blah blah blah.
Let me tell you this folks. I am a Christian that believes in God. I pray daily. Never do I pray that one segment of our people will be persecuted because of their personal choices. Quite the opposite.
Our Declaration of Independence states:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Nowhere does it state that this only applies to those who believe as I do and do as I say.
For those who continue playing the God card it may behoove you to know that though we are a Nation who believes in God, we also are a Nation who believed religion should be separate from governance.
In short you can't have it both ways folks. The same rights that allow you to act the way you do are also the same rights that allow those who disagree with you the same respect.
All men are created equal.
In the debates of the Constitutional Convention, religion did not get a lot of sound bites. It should be noted that without exception, the Framers were Christian or, at the very least, deists (generally, deists believe in a single god who set the universe on its course and then stepped back to watch; some deists believe their deity is the same God of Judeo-Christian tradition, some do not).
There were no Jews or Muslims, no Hindus or atheists, and only two Roman Catholics. There were members of more than a half-dozen sects of the Protestant side of Christianity, though.
Disagreements about style and method of worship between them were nearly as vast and incongruous as any seen today between, say, Jews and Muslims, such that the Framers wanted to ensure that no one sect could ever seize control of a government and start a theocracy. Constitutional Topic: The Constitution and Religion - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net
Interesting that the framers wanted to ensure that no one sect could ever create a theocracy and yet that is the one thing these ultra right wingers continue wanting to do.
Does the gay community have a so called right to get married?
Depends on how you look at it. The religious right continues stating that it is not a right no more so than marriage is a right. Sorry folks that doesn't pass muster.
I personally believe marriage is a religious thing and therefore the state should not engage in marrying anyone. BUT if we are to allow a set of criteria to allow the joining of two individuals as a state then we must also allow this to be regardless of sex.
Religious sectarians who continue to cry marriage is between one man and one woman continue to seek laws stating such. That in itself is unconstitutional if they clearly maintain that marriage itself is not a right. You have to love hypocrisy by the wingers.
So then we come down to equality or rights. There is no argument that married couples receive some favor in taxation and other areas because of this marriage. That creates an inequality.
All men are created equal.
Therein lies the rub. In the interest of equality if I choose to marry then I get an unequal benefit for that choice. That is not what we are about in America.
In a speech to the House by James Madison he stated:
The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.
In the case of gay marriage are we not perhaps infringing on those civil rights?
I do not approve of the gay lifestyle, I am a married man of 27 years, but I live in a nation of tolerance and individual freedom. Therefore it is not my right to judge any person who may be gay by denying them the same basic rights I myself enjoy as a married man.
I also continue to see the same rhetoric spoken by many of these right wingers, many of whom I know on a personal level about God and the bible while they are themselves ignoring HIS word.
Premarital sex? Against the bible folks. Divorce? Oops. Smoking, drinking, using the lord's name in vain. These are the easy ones we can judge if we wanted. There are so many other things that it defies logic how any of them could use the bible in their defense, unless they themselves wanted to be judged accordingly.
We can do that if they want. Many local folks are writing about how wrong this is and living a sinful life. I can out that if they want but why? They have the right to pursue happiness as much as I do. If living that life, or lie if you will, makes them happy then who am I to judge.
Judge not lest ye be judged.
Thankfully we live in America where we are free to pursue happiness as long as we don't infringe on others equal rights. Whether I would approve or disapprove of someone's lifestyle is not the question here. Equality under the laws is.
I would suggest for those bible thumpers who continue to publicly use this scheme to look within and heal themselves before they cast stones at others.
I would suggest they play the WWJD game in their own lives before they judge others.
Just sayin'.
Welcome to America folks. Why this concerns anyone outside of New York is beyond me. It was and is a State decision to be made and that respects the states rights. For that alone we should be grateful.
I will side with New York for many reasons.
Firstly because they are by far the largest state to date to exercise their state rights. Kudos to them.
Secondly I continue to get sick of the self righteous ultra right wingers continuing to play the WWJD game. They continue to hide behind God and use the same old garbage arguments that it's against God and the bible and blah blah blah.
Let me tell you this folks. I am a Christian that believes in God. I pray daily. Never do I pray that one segment of our people will be persecuted because of their personal choices. Quite the opposite.
Our Declaration of Independence states:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Nowhere does it state that this only applies to those who believe as I do and do as I say.
For those who continue playing the God card it may behoove you to know that though we are a Nation who believes in God, we also are a Nation who believed religion should be separate from governance.
In short you can't have it both ways folks. The same rights that allow you to act the way you do are also the same rights that allow those who disagree with you the same respect.
All men are created equal.
In the debates of the Constitutional Convention, religion did not get a lot of sound bites. It should be noted that without exception, the Framers were Christian or, at the very least, deists (generally, deists believe in a single god who set the universe on its course and then stepped back to watch; some deists believe their deity is the same God of Judeo-Christian tradition, some do not).
There were no Jews or Muslims, no Hindus or atheists, and only two Roman Catholics. There were members of more than a half-dozen sects of the Protestant side of Christianity, though.
Disagreements about style and method of worship between them were nearly as vast and incongruous as any seen today between, say, Jews and Muslims, such that the Framers wanted to ensure that no one sect could ever seize control of a government and start a theocracy. Constitutional Topic: The Constitution and Religion - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net
Interesting that the framers wanted to ensure that no one sect could ever create a theocracy and yet that is the one thing these ultra right wingers continue wanting to do.
Does the gay community have a so called right to get married?
Depends on how you look at it. The religious right continues stating that it is not a right no more so than marriage is a right. Sorry folks that doesn't pass muster.
I personally believe marriage is a religious thing and therefore the state should not engage in marrying anyone. BUT if we are to allow a set of criteria to allow the joining of two individuals as a state then we must also allow this to be regardless of sex.
Religious sectarians who continue to cry marriage is between one man and one woman continue to seek laws stating such. That in itself is unconstitutional if they clearly maintain that marriage itself is not a right. You have to love hypocrisy by the wingers.
So then we come down to equality or rights. There is no argument that married couples receive some favor in taxation and other areas because of this marriage. That creates an inequality.
All men are created equal.
Therein lies the rub. In the interest of equality if I choose to marry then I get an unequal benefit for that choice. That is not what we are about in America.
In a speech to the House by James Madison he stated:
The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.
In the case of gay marriage are we not perhaps infringing on those civil rights?
I do not approve of the gay lifestyle, I am a married man of 27 years, but I live in a nation of tolerance and individual freedom. Therefore it is not my right to judge any person who may be gay by denying them the same basic rights I myself enjoy as a married man.
I also continue to see the same rhetoric spoken by many of these right wingers, many of whom I know on a personal level about God and the bible while they are themselves ignoring HIS word.
Premarital sex? Against the bible folks. Divorce? Oops. Smoking, drinking, using the lord's name in vain. These are the easy ones we can judge if we wanted. There are so many other things that it defies logic how any of them could use the bible in their defense, unless they themselves wanted to be judged accordingly.
We can do that if they want. Many local folks are writing about how wrong this is and living a sinful life. I can out that if they want but why? They have the right to pursue happiness as much as I do. If living that life, or lie if you will, makes them happy then who am I to judge.
Judge not lest ye be judged.
Thankfully we live in America where we are free to pursue happiness as long as we don't infringe on others equal rights. Whether I would approve or disapprove of someone's lifestyle is not the question here. Equality under the laws is.
I would suggest for those bible thumpers who continue to publicly use this scheme to look within and heal themselves before they cast stones at others.
I would suggest they play the WWJD game in their own lives before they judge others.
Just sayin'.
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Yours truly,
Ed Springston