Gay Marriage Vs. Civil Union

I wanted to get married at the courthouse and my wife wanted to get married in a church. Guess who won? She did. I was unsure about most religions having observed a great deal of hypocrisy and she was dedicated to the idea of a church wedding. The end result was a church wedding with the majority of guests sitting on “her side” of the isle.

My personal experience isn’t that relevant but in the interest of full disclosure, I explain it. You see, I agree with the “Christian Right” that “marriage” is generally accepted as a Bible based ceremony and belongs in a church. But since in this country we have a practicing separation of church and state, we the people have laws that allow for church ceremonies to be accepted as state ceremonies by sanction of the state. A “Preacher” must have state authority to perform the ceremony and that’s what makes it legal. Look at your marriage "license" to view it for your state.

What if I had had my way and we married at the courthouse? We would still be “married” (a derivative of the word Marriage) and we would still be “legal.” The difference? Both are state sanctioned but only one is church sanctioned.

Here’s what I propose; Let the churches keep their ceremony of marriage and let the state perform “civil ceremonies” at courthouses and let them both be legal! The difference would be a true separation of church and state, but both satisfy the requirements of the state. The technical difference is that a church “wedding” would be “marriage” and a courthouse “wedding” would be a “civil union.”

Churches that deny homosexual marriage do not have to allow them. The state, which does not allow discrimination based on race, gender, national origin, sexual preference, (or any others I may have overlooked), would not call it a “Marriage.” Thus, one is a civil union while the other is a marriage. Both are equal under the state law.

Problem solved, solution applied and let’s get on with serious problems. . .What was that? You say, “What about religious gays that want to marry in a church?”

That’s between you and the church! Don’t get the state involved. It doesn’t belong there!

That’s As I see it. . .

I recently sent the following to friends and relatives. It created quite a stir among non-Barack supporters. So I thought I would share it with as many people as I could. Sorry I've been gone for awhile.

I want to change the world.

So I ask myself, “How do I do that?” I want the world to be peaceful. I want the world to be tolerant of each other. I want the world to empathize. “How do I do that?”

Well, if I had the power, I could make the world leaders meet and agree on a plan to get along. Make them compromise on issues that everyone can live with. And I don’t mean to just “tolerate” but to really live! Get along!

But I don’t have that power. I barely control the world I live in with bills and obligations. I don’t hear from my children as often as I would like. Taxes on my house keep going up. They haven’t fixed the street I live on in a long time. How can I change the world?

I listened to the promises of the presidential candidates. I’m no fool. I know that neither of them can do everything they want. But I did hear the same kind of desire I have, “I want to change the world.”

I’ve lived long enough to know that this election, in my country, can have the biggest impact on the future more than any election I have ever voted in before. Why? It will decide if “we the people” want to keep giving our power to the wealthy or take back our country. We can only do that if we put in power people who will listen to us, the people, and not to the wealthy.

We have lived in a great experiment since 1980. The promise of wealth will trickle down to all if we just let the wealthy have their way. Well, they have had their way. And now we find that “we the people” have to come to their aid and “bail them out.” I guess that promise didn’t work out so well.

It’s time to take another approach. Let the people rule! Tax the wealthy! Give the revenues to the state and let the state pay for the debt, the streets, the sick, the poor, the destitute and maybe even fix my street.

We, the people, cannot continue to pay the greatest share of taxes and let the wealthy take the greatest share of profits and wealth. We just can’t let it continue!

I’m voting for Democracy! I’m voting for Barack Obama! I hope you do too.

Householder
Tax Payer
60 Year old soon-to-retire fed up with the status quo of rich getting richer and we the people inheriting deeper debt.