Marriage Rights

Proposition 8 in California which would serve to amend that states Constitution to disallow gay marriage seems to be receiving a great deal of attention this election day. I am not a Californian, but if I were, I would vote to allow gay marriage; I would vote to expand rather than contract individual liberty for individual liberty is the fundamental foundation our nation is built upon.

Beyond the vote, I think that Proposition 8 gives people everywhere a good opportunity to think about the proper role of government.

In my view, the question of gay marriage should not even be addressed by law. It should not be legal, it should not be illegal, it should simply not be referenced. Like millions of other activities Americans engage in each and every day, there is no valid reason for government to even address this topic.

Marriage is a sacrament, a religious function, a religious tradition. That is the realm in which it belongs, and we as Americans should remember that our nation has done very well by keeping a wall of separation between our religions and our governments.

If, exactly like my wife and I did so many years ago, two gay men decide to marry, and if they can find a pastor or a church to marry them, they should be married. Our nations promise of religious freedom should give them that right, and likewise their individual rights to religious freedom should preclude any governmental interference.

If on the other hand our same two gay men are unable to gain a pastors consent to be married within his church, his religious tradition, that pastor should not be forced by the government to perform the marriage, the religious ceremony. For such coercion would also violate religious freedom. The couple would in this example need to look elsewhere for a church, pastor, and tradition that was more accepting of their position in life.

Marriage is not properly a function of the state. It is a function of religious tradition. No matter where we each fit on the political spectrum we should not be looking to the government to address every issue that affects our lives. To preserve individual liberty we must restrict government to its proper functions, and leave those functions that belong elsewhere, indeed elsewhere.

Our political foundation, our promise of religious freedom demands that for any marriage to take place only three elements are needed. Individuals who want to be married, and a pastor of any tradition willing to marry them. That is the promise upon which the United States was built. I find it very sad that the state has not upheld this promise, that the citizens have demanded and received governmental interference within the sacrament of marriage.