Monday, May 26, 2008
"It just feels unfair": Ellen tells McCain what's up
I'm not sure when this aired, but it sure seems like McCain is more than a little out of touch...and definitely avoiding the subject. Things like this just keep reminding me that it takes us--real people--coming out and having real conversations with people we love to swing voters. President of the United States is one very important election coming up, but in November it also will be very likely that we (in California) will be voting yes or no to change the state constitution to make marriage ONLY between a man and a women. Definitely gets my NO vote.
[thanks to PageOneQ for the info and the embeddable vid]
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I like Ellen a lot, I would love to meet her. I also think Ellen did make a compelling argument.
ReplyDeleteHere is the problem. What Ellen is asking for is for the state to go beyond just declaring legal partnerships and declare gay unions as having the sacred status of “marriage”.
Now this is not to say that there can’t be compelling arguments for why gay unions could not be considered sacred and given the term marriage; I am just not sure that government is really able to mandate any union beyond just it’s legality and declare something “sacred” one way or the other. So perhaps government has over stepped its boundaries by ever declaring any legal union, even heterosexual, a marriage.
Perhaps the answer is for government to get out of the marriage game all together and declare both homosexual and heterosexual unions “civil unions” and let marriage be determined in the context of peoples various religious and cultural communities.
This way everyone would have the same legal rights and at the same time allow diverse communities to determine on their own what would constitute sacred and marriage beyond just a legal agreement and partnership; and no one could deny them that.
Just a thought, I would love to hear your opinion.
Peace,
James
Interesting what the word sacred does to the whole topic, don't you think? I agree that government and religious marriages don't need to be the same thing. In fact, as a Catholic myself, I can now (or will be able to, shortly) get married to my partner, but will never (in my lifetime, anyways) be able to marry my partner in the Catholic Church. SO for me at least equality in marriage is only from the governmental side at this point which makes me feel very sad.
ReplyDeleteI "get" that the Vatican is the one dictating what is licit or not, and in their eyes, I am the one choosing the situation (to live outside the norm of Catholic practice), but it still feels exclusive and--religious or not, I feel that all loving commitments between people should be honored as a contribution to the good of society.
What a thoughtful comment, James. Thank you for contributing to the conversation.
Also, along the lines of what you were saying, James...here's a taste from the Center for Lesbian & Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry:
ReplyDelete"Doesn't our government have a responsibility to protect the sanctity of marriage?
No. What constitutes something as "sacred" is the exclusive realm of religious tradition and communities of faith. The government's sole responsibility in this arena is to ensure just and equal protection under the law for every American citizen. That's why the U.S. Constitution insists on the separation of "church and state.""
I think I'll have to do a write-up on their longer marriage/government/religion page of FAQs...
Gaynapa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the statement from the Center for Lesbian & Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry. I agree with it.
To be honest,(and I hope by being honest I am not branded with being homophobic or bigoted) I struggle to see marriage outside the sacredness and beauty of heterosexual unions. This of course does not negate arguments that hold to the sacredness and beauty of homosexual unions; it is just something that I, and many others have not been able to grasp.
Still, I do not think I have the legal right to force my view of sacred on anyone. As far as religion goes such determinations are made by religious communities.
I understand that this may be difficult in the religious community you take part of. My hope for all Christian religious communities though is that we would be guided by things like love, kindness, patience, and justice as our highest ethic in the spirit of Jesus Christ to help us navigate these things and truly listen to one another.
As a heterosexual I am trying my best to love and listen. And though there may be some disagreement still about some aspects of these issues I want to find a way to stand with you in every area I can in the interest of fighting for the kind of love and justice that God would have us show one another.
Thank you for letting me comment on your blog.
Peace,
James