An
Argument About Marriage
Recently
the topic of gay marriage has been flared up again. This came after Vice President Biden gave his
own personal views on the subject, which then served as motivation for
President Obama to give his own personal views on the subject, which then
caused everyone to freak out. This topic
coming up again has served as an inspiration for many bloggers, opinionists,
pundits, politicians, and many other kids of non-influential people to give
their opinion on the subject. I am among
them.
In
listening and reading to the various arguments for or against gay marriage, I
did not hear one that fell in line with my views. These are views that I have not just about
gay marriage, but also about marriage in general. That argument is what follows.
As it
currently stands in America, marriage is a part of religion. Many will give a long historical account of
how it isn't, however that seeks to reeducate people about a concept that they
have been aware of for their entire lives.
As long as I, my parents, and my grandparents have been alive, marriage
has been a religious institution. The
tradition is that if you get married you get married in a place and in a way
that has a religious connection to it. If
you do not follow this tradition, you are generally looked down upon socially,
even if that is not openly expressed.
The fact is this: As we currently perceive marriage, marriage and
religion are one.
When the
controversy about the Obamacare Birth Control Mandate came up, the interaction
between religion and government was brought up.
Part of the argument against the mandate was made by Tim Dolan. Tim Dolan currently serves as the President
of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. On an appearance on CBS This Morning, Bishop
Dolan said the following:
DOLAN: ...[W]e just have to stick with principle here, and
we're just- what we're very reluctant to do- and what I think wise voices are
saying- is we can't have a government bureaucracy invading the privacy and the
independence and autonomy and the integrity that our Constitution gives to
religion.
While
many disagree with the viewpoint Bishop Dolan has on birth control, the point
that he makes about the interaction between government and religion is
sound. Why should the government be
invading the religious beliefs of any person?
Why should the government be allowed to interpret what another person's
religious beliefs are?
Imagine
that you are in a house. You can move
anywhere and in any way that you want, but you cannot move in a way that takes
you out of that house. The very fact
that there is a house, with walls a roof and presumably a front door, restricts
your freedom to move. You may never move
in a way that causes you to bump up against those restrictions, or want to move
in a way that causes you to bump up against those restrictions, but the very
fact that those restrictions are there restricts your freedom to move.
This can
be applied to marriage. The government
has rules about marriage. You can move
in any way you wish to move within those rules of marriage. Sure, those rules may be something that you
are comfortable with. Sure, those rules
may be something that you may never challenge.
Sure, those rules may fall within your religious beliefs, but those
rules exist. Those rules exist and act
upon an institution that is fundamental to your religion. Those rules pertaining to marriage restrict
your religious liberty. Even if you
never challenge those rules, those rules prevent you from expressing your
religion in the way that you feel is right.
Those rules mandate that you express your religion in a way that the
government interprets as correct.
Why
should the government be in a position where it has a viewpoint on
religion? If marriage is suck an
important part of a person's religious life, why should the government be
allowed to place rules upon how that part of a person's life is lived? If we truly believe in religious liberty,
shouldn't the government have no opinion on the institution of marriage?
My basic
argument is this: As long as you are a free thinking adult, the government
should have no opinion on who you marry.
The only interaction that any government in America should have with
marriage is to record the details of that marriage into the public record. That's it.
This is not an argument for gay marriage. This is an argument against the government
having a viewpoint on marriage. Unless
the people involved are unable to make decisions for themselves, the government
should not care is anybody wants to get married to anybody.
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