Yes

by Gary Maclean

Created on: March 03, 2009   Last Updated: March 04, 2009

I am not concerned if Joe wants to marry Pete; it doesn't matter to me. It also does not bother me if Mary would like to marry Jill, that is their business. What does concern me is that I have to be involved in these issues at all. Why make anyone's selection of life partner, public to anyone else? I made my selection public through the act of marriage, but I made it public, only to those I and my wife cared for and wanted to have share our moment. I never randomly told anyone I want to marry her. We just did it.

Likewise, I never shake someone's hand and say anything like "Hi, I'm Gary and I'm straight." There is no reason to do so. Same as there is no reason for anyone to ever shake my hand and say anything like; "Hi, I'm Joe and I'm gay." I could care less. It's none of my business who is straight or gay. You don't tell me if your short or tall, or if you are democrat or republican, or Christian or Atheist, so don't proudly proclaim your sexual preference to me either. So your gay, so what!

Now, about the issue of marriage between two gay people. Again, this is none of my business. I don't care who anybody wants to spend the rest of their life with. Don't make me vote on legislation for an issue that doesn't affect me and one that I could care less about. I don't care, get it? The only thing gays are gaining by thrusting their "gayness" in our (straight people) faces is making us more and more frustrated and suspicious of their gay lifestyle. Don't tell me about it, just go do it!

So let's move on to the question that is at the heart of the issue. Should gays be allowed civil unions but not marriage. The government needs to stay out of the religion business. Government should have no say in anything religious; that is just how America is built. The issue of gay marriage is surely a religious question. Not only is it religious, but it is exclusively Christian, I'll explain that in a minute. The government can provide civil unions, not marriages. Who they provide civil unions to, is their question to decide. Religion has no say so in the matters of the court or the matters of politics. The only question that belongs on any ballot is; should the government provide civil unions to gay people.

The government cannot provide marriage; they are not in that business, Christians are. The concept of marriage is a Christian ideal. Remember, it isn't just religious, it is exclusively Christian. The first marriage in history was that of Adam and Eve. At the heart of the Christian religion is the Blessed Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Christians accept God the Father as the first "marriage officiate". There were no other people on earth to invite to the service. In reality, Adam and Eve had the most intimate "wedding" of them all. Here's why God wed them through the creation of Eve she is physically part of Adam and Adam is incomplete until she arrives; "At last, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." They didn't need a "ceremony" to ask God to unify them; He already did it for them through Eve's creation. The rest of us have ceremonies, a sacrament, to experience the same type of unity given to Adam and Eve.

The world's religions are roughly broken up as follows:

Christianity

33%

Islam

20%

Hinduism

13%

Chinese Folk Religions

6.3%

Buddhism

5.9%

Atheists

14%

Tribal Religions

4%

Others

0.5%

Christianity is the only group that fully subscribes to the Blessed Trinity concept and the complete Holy Bible as handed down through the ages. Christians are the only ones who follow the teachings of the Bible, one of which is the marriage of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve made up the first marriage, thus, marriage is a Christian thing, not simply a religious thing. Anything else is some other organization's ritual used to unite two people. They could even call it marriage but the only one true "religious" marriage is fully based on Christian teachings, thus it is a Christian thing.

Common Sense would tell us that indeed, homosexuals should be offered civil unions. The government cannot discriminate based on sexual preference. If they offer the service of Civil Union, and they do, then they must also offer it to homosexuals. The church on the other hand, Christians in particular, are free to provide their services to whomever they believe is worthy of receiving them. Christians can refuse to baptize someone until that individual has attended certain training. Christians can refuse to award membership to their congregation until the individual in question meets certain requirements. Christians can refuse to marry someone based on a set of pre-established ideals.

If one of those pre-established ideals is that the marriage must consist of one man and one woman then the Christian organization can refuse to marry gays. Christians are separate from government and are not held to those specific rules. In most cases, Christians believe that a marriage is blessed by God and it does consist of one man and one woman. Therefore, gays and lesbians must be offered the same governmental privilege as any other individual but they do not have specific claim to any privilege offered by any Christian church.

Two men or two women want to be unified to spend the rest of their days together. They approach the local courts and arrange for a civil union. The service is performed and the union is established. Whatever benefits are derived from being in a civil union are now theirs to share. They are not married and any self-respecting Christian entity will not perform a marriage for them. It really is as simple as that.

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