Gay Marriage is Not an Attack on Religion

Posted on July 3, 2015

Another Letter to My Daughters:

Gay Marriage is Not an Attack on Religion

July 3, 2015

Dear Kids:

Gay marriage and homosexual behavior are not choices I would make for myself.  Frankly, I don’t see the appeal.  But I also do not see the appeal in clog dancing, pickles, cauliflower, menudo, sky diving, tube socks, or scary movies.  It is fair to say, though, that there are others to whom all these things do appeal.  There is no right or wrong, there is merely personal appeal which should be zealously guarded in the name of individual freedom.

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision recognizing the freedom to marry whomever you like is a fabulous example of preserving freedoms, not oppressing religion as some would have you believe.  It is a red herring to argue that allowing gay people to marry will infringe on the religious beliefs of others who oppose it.  Just think about it logically.  How does a couple’s choice to marry affect you at all?  It doesn’t!  It merely ratifies others’ ability to make their own decision about how they live their life.  If you don’t want to marry someone of your own gender, or eat cauliflower for that matter, then don’t.  But telling someone that they cannot marry a person of their choosing is certainly imposing religious beliefs upon another—unacceptable!

There are too many real issues in this world to focus on without wasting energy trying to “fix” the “wrong beliefs” belonging to other people.  To do so would be oppressive.  In the words of the great Aldous Snow, “I was going to do that but then, um, I just carried on living my life.”