Wednesday, November 5, 2008

   Religion and politics
There was an election yesterday to modify California's state constitution to define marriage as only being between a man and a woman. It looks like the vote passed 52%-48%. First off, I would like to say there needs to be some changes to make the constitution at least as difficult to change as the state budget (which requires 66% of the legislature)

I am not a christian, so the bible is not something that I have any reason to follow. That does not mean that I do not value any of the messages in the bible or that I wish to stop christians from worshipping according to their beliefs. As far same sex-marriages go - I believe that they should have the same rights to marry as anyone else from the perspective of the law - not your church. If it is part of your religion that homosexuality is wrong, then I would not want the government forcing any church to perform those marriages. I also don't want to see religious doctrine written as law. Should pork be outlawed because some religions don't believe it should be eaten?

I also disagree with arguments comparing same-sex marriages and polygamy to bestiality and under-age marriages. The main difference I see there is with consent. It is our society's standards that both parties must consent to sex (or marriage) as a protection for those who are determined not to be able to comprehend the consequences enough to make an informed decision. The age of 18 has been selected by our society as the age of consent. Legally, animals are not able to consent, so it could never be considered consensual.

I choose to follow man-made laws because I believe it makes for a better world. I do believe however that the main purpose of those laws should be to protect people for one another - not to protect them from themselves. I do not believe same-sex marriages threaten anyone outside of the 2 consenting adults involved in the relationship. The only reason I see to prevent them from calling it "marriage" is to keep them separate. The supreme court determined long ago that separate but equal is not equal (Brown V. Board of Education). I understand supreme court decisions can be overturned, but I personally feel that was an incredibly powerful and just decision. I hope that this country can continue to move in a direction away from discrimination. Of course, I think everyone reading this actually lives outside of "my" country, so I am not certain how much influence religion has in your respective countries & how far along the road to tolerance the countries are but I would love to hear your thoughts.

ok - enough of my political rant. Take care.

-bunraku
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