There is an uncomfortable clash of cultures taking place across our country. A lot of well-meaning, misguided people want to keep gay and lesbian couples from having equal respect and acceptance in our society. These people wrongly believe that gay and lesbian behavior is a sinful choice. They believe this grave fiction with all their hearts. Convictions of a cultural kind are the toughest to change for the better.
Tuesday our president took his stance. Claiming institutionalized America (and implying Judeo-Christian piety) as his evidence, President Bush recommended that we alter our constitution to forbid the marriage of two human beings of the same gender.
Perhaps the president's speech was a political move. By solidifying his stance, Bush may hope to force John Kerry and John Edwards to solidify theirs. (Kerry is opposed to gay and lesbian marriage as well.) Nonetheless, the president's proposal must not be taken lightly. Our nation's government is currently in the process of disenfranchising an important minority of its citizens. This must not be allowed to happen.
The "traditional family" is gone and for the better. Children are now raised by foster parents, grandparents, single parents, step-parents, aunts, uncles and even older siblings. The specific blood relation of "father, mother and child" is not requisite for "family." The important thing in "family" is a circle of close people who love each other and help each other to develop into positive human beings as a cohesive social unit.
By "defending" marriage and the traditional family, the opposition to gay and lesbian marriage is assaulting and insulting those who live differently from them. The "defense of marriage" is synonymous with the attack on every day living for millions of Americans as well as 50 percent of heterosexual marriages.
At the heart of this culture clash is fear. Those opposed to gay and lesbian marriage (and by association, gay and lesbian behavior) fear the unknown. They do not understand the behavior, and they fear explaining it to their children. Americans want to ignore complex issues. Our country was founded by Puritans, so perhaps this fear of sexuality is cultural, too. The religious right and left are troubled by a society not so easily defined by dualistic values.
One thing has been evident in the last four years and exemplified by the gay-lesbian marriage issue: the Bush administration is a big, invasive government that wishes to dictate what is and is not socially acceptable through legislation. They believe their values to be morally superior and wish to manipulate Americans into falling in line with them. They desire a dissimulated theocracy.
I suggest that perhaps the government should have zero authority in the matter of marriage. Remove "marriage" from the government lexicon. Begin granting only civil unions to heterosexual, gay and lesbian couples. Convert all prior "marriage licenses" to "civil union licenses." The government would then treat all loving couples as equal in all respects.
Then we could allow churches to "marry" whomever they choose in a private, separate ceremony. The institutionalized, judgmental churches could choose to exclude gays and lesbians. The progressive, clear-headed churches will recognize love for what it is, and bless gay and lesbian unions.
An exclusionary amendment to our constitution forbidding gay and lesbian marriage would epitomize Pharisaism. It must not stand.
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