by Erin Bramblett

Created on: November 29, 2008   Last Updated: January 19, 2009

Barring people from entering same sex marriages because of either legal or religious prejudices in not only wrong, but immoral and unjust. This is simply another form of discrimination against a minority with views separate from the majority. Americans claim themselves as modern, open people, yet the hypocrisy of this lays in the laws of the country itself.

The Separatists on the Mayflower fled to America to escape religious persecution and hard times they endured in their former country. These were due to the narrow minded majority and intrusive laws that brought violence to their group. In 1776, a revolutionary war was fought for the rights and freedoms of those people in America under British rule. In 1870, Black Americans gained their right to vote, they struggled through the 1960's in the Civil Rights movement to finally gain equality. In the 1920's, women fought for their equality and were eventually granted suffrage. We, as a people, have had to fight and struggle for the rights and equalities we now take for granted. So who are we to keep the rights of others in our nation away from them? Why is it that only a few of the states in "the land of the free" allow same-sex marriages? It seems like "the home of the brave" is afraid of a minority that means them no harm or ill will, just an opportunity to have medical insurance, and to be recognized as a legal union in the eyes of the law. Is not the basis of our founding document the natural rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? Every man is created equal according to the Declaration of Independence, isn't every person created in the image of God, so shouldn't every person have the right to be wed and to share that joy?

Many people claim that homosexuality is a sin, and that is why it should not be allowed in the United States. In our Holy Bible, there are sixty-six books, 1,189 chapters, and 31,101 verses, yet only six passages condemn homosexuality (none of which were statements by Jesus). In fact, in Deuteronomy, homosexuality is considered no greater a sin than being a whore, when it states "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel" (Deuteronomy 23:17). Even the Apostle Paul does not single out homosexuality as a special offense; instead he speaks of fornicators, idolators, adulterers, thieves, covetous persons, drunkards, revilers and extortionists. How many people do you know who have committed such crimes? Breaking the sacred Ten Commandments

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>