Gay marriage craze hard to comprehend
From our perch in Warren County, it’s difficult to completely understand the gay marriage frenzy taking place in San Francisco. Over 3,000 same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses in just over one week’s time and many more are waiting to be pronounced “spouses for life.”
The thought of same-sex marriage is enough to make some Americans cringe in disgust. They are 100 percent against it – and there is no middle ground.
Others contend that preventing same-sex marriages is a form of discrimination that wrongly prevents a minority group from obtaining certain privileges. They argue that gay couples should enjoy the same rights as all other Americans.
It’s a topic that has already divided much of the nation with President Bush taking the stand that he feels marriage should be between a man and a woman. In echoing Bush’s sentiments, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday he wants the state attorney general to take immediate legal steps to halt the city of San Francisco from granting marriage licenses to gay couples.
“It’s time for the city to stop traveling down this dangerous path of ignoring the rule of law,” Schwarzenegger said referring to San Francisco.
In fully evaluating both sides of the argument, the Standard has to side with President Bush and Gov. Schwarzenegger. A relationship between two men, or two women, should not be recognized by our laws as legally binding.
It’s one thing to allow gay couples to share a home together and to adopt whatever lifestyle they please. In the case of homosexual behavior, that lifestyle may not be accepted by the majority, but we can’t forget that America is the home of the free.
The rights of the minority cannot be trampled. People should be allowed to live however they please. And as is so often the case today, that includes living with a partner of the same sex. It happens so regularly in this country, that behavior has grown to be tolerated.
But toleration is one thing. A ringing endorsement is quite another. And by opening our alters to same-sex couples, Americans are ultimately embracing homosexual lifestyles. We’re saying this is OK, that we approve.
This is very much different than tolerance and the Standard doesn’t feel that is an appropriate message to send.
Twenty years ago, it would be hard to imagine such a debate would be raging in this country. Seeing pictures of two men kissing at the alter, or two women in wedding dresses, is still very numbing, even in this day when “pushing the envelope” has become standard procedure.
Ultimately, this matter will rest in the hands of judges, first in California and more than likely in the hands of the nine justices on the Supreme Court. It will be those judges who determine how our laws are interpreted and how our culture is forever shaped.
These judges may tell us same-sex marriages are legally binding and are now a part of our society. That may one day be their reasoning, but we believe the only way a couple should be married is by being pronounced husband and wife.