Feelings backwards...

There are times that I question the future of progress. One of those times is now.

Economic disaster is the flavour of the week.

Up on the radar pops a story of how a princess with tremendous fortune plans to "break" the glass ceiling of being a woman & driving in Saudi Arabia, one of the "richest" nations in the world. I'm glad she could overcome such difficult diversity.

While digesting that, it's not hard to realize how marriage is being stolen from the American people. Notice that I do not speak of Marriage, the religious sacrament in which I recently happily participated, and am a firm believer in. I refer specifically to the legal relationship that exists between two parties that becomes recognized by a local or state government - marriage.

This issue has been contorted and discombobulated by so many people, for so long, that I am gradually shifting from disgusted to dizzy.

The main arguments I have heard against the recognition of same-sex marriage are generally in 3 categories:

1. Moral

These are my favorite. Why? They generally refer to such notions as "fundamental", "family", "heart", and "love". And generally they guise such references under godly edicts of old.

However, none of them have explained how the current strategy of one woman + one man has turned out such a pathetic failure, with divorce rates of up to 40%+. Nor do they spend their apparent free time on protecting or championing the cause of the less fortunate such as orphans or abused children (don't even get me started on the homeless, or abused women).

It would seem to me that the fundamental foundation of any family IS love. And I think it is a slap in the face that any group suggest that because of a person's sexual orientation they are incapable of providing love to a child without somehow perverting them. And how is it loving to tell someone that their choice for a life partner is less than yours, or that they cannot benefit (or suffer) from any of the repercussions of such a union.

If these particular persons found the "family" such a sacred union, they would fight to save the abused and abandoned children before even making their own. And they would do so definitely before strutting into the personal lives of others. Or wait, can I come over, and have a discussion about how you are raising your children? Because I know your kids about as well as you know any gay person seeking to get married.

2. Historical

Other groups tout long histories of strict man-on-woman marriage, and the apparent damage to the foundation of civilization that slight evolution to the definition of a single word might cause.

"2000 YEARS!!! You can NOT fight 2000 YEARS OF HISTORY!!!" their rally cries come from the stands.

Really? I bet someone used that kind of logic in the past. Maybe during The Inquisition? There's another word for you - inquisition. Did that word all of a sudden lose its root meaning because of the horrid history of the Catholic Church in the middle ages?

Did it?

No.

And yes, you can fight 2000 years of history. Or wait, are there still black slaves all over the US? Do we still use horses & wooden boats with sails as our principal modes of transportation? Do we still speak Latin & Greek? Do we barter, or trade for metal coins?

Oh... that's right... people change.... gotcha.

3. Legal

Lastly, people hide behind laws old & new. Some are too lazy to change the laws and the necessary paperwork required to marry a wo/man and a wo/man. And certainly some people just don't wanna deal with lawyers.

But as I sat at the court house filling out my own marriage license, I wondered why two men realistically couldn't fill out the same form. And as my wife and I raised our hands in front of the clerk, I asked why two women couldn't take the same oath.

The license did not state that the marriage must be performed by a clergyman or religious representative. So what is the legal basis behind denying the rights to gay couples? I can only guess it's because they're gay. Isn't that discrimination?

Not to mention the fact that marriage licenses do not ask for sexual preference or orientation. Nor can they guarantee it. The license to marry is NOT a sexual license. It IS a legal document, but legal documents are sex-less. So again, what's the legal basis?

The marriage certificate is basically a document of merger between two people and all of their possessions, recognized by the State. Think of it like a corporate merger, where one company takes the other's name, and operations are generally consolidated to one location, debt is shared, etc. And yes, divorces are just the reinstitution of the original organizations, to continue doing business as they were previously, despite any loss of value in the interim.

But, as generally happens, despite the clear prime directive in this country to separate Church & State, the legal and the aforementioned religious/moral/historical combinations all get jumbled up...

... and we get illogical, irrational decisions and laws being made.

And in the meantime, everyone gets slightly less from the experience. Because to get either Married or married you have to disavow a group of people who are law-abiding, tax-paying, and deserving of a legal contract to join in what you already have.

Sign on the dotted line. You don't have a choice... right?