Cafeteria Catholic- Same Sex Marriage
November 15 | Posted by Vinny | Cafeteria Catholic, Faith Tags: CA, california, gay, marriage, olbermann, prop 8, same-sex
The 2008 election was an historic election. No, not for Barack Obama. The residents of the State of California decided that the right for any two people to marry, regardless of their gender, was no longer to be sanctioned. The text of Proposition 8 read, simply, that “(o)nly marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The California Legislature has twice voted to allow same-sex marriage, but the Governor has vetoed the measure each time. This proposition to alter the State Constitution would nullify a recent California State Supreme Court ruling disallowing a ban on such marriages.
Love is hard to find. Truly. Each of us is so flawed I can’t imagine how we can even stand the sight of one another most days. We all have our foibles and issues. When you can finally find someone to love you, should you not seize the opportunity to join with them for a lifetime of love? How can any marriage, any agreement entered into with love and care for another be wrong? Does not Matthew 7:12 say “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Read the last clause again, so you can see “this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” This is not a single part of the law, but the guiding force, the summary of it. If we deny marriage to anyone, we are not living by this guiding principle. There is no qualifier. “This sums up some portions of the Law, but reinterpret other sections as you see fit.”
No. Love is not to be feared, and commitment is not to be denied. The same folks who believe all gay men to be predators of whom our children must be fearful would also deny they be allowed the opportunity to marry. I would say that any man or woman willing to go against community sensibilities and enter into a world so misunderstood and maligned is crazy, not for their preference to love another of their gender but to risk suffering the slings and arrows of narrow-minded members of the human race. That they continue uninhibited is a credit to them and their conquest to find the one person with whom they might share a modicum of happiness.
If circumstances had been different, could I have married? Not another man, but imagine this: If I fell in love with my the woman I now call my wife, and I was told by my family that it was wrong, could I have continued? Would I have been strong enough to foster the relationship? If so, what if the town were to tell me the same? Could I endure? If the state then intervened? Would I be willing and able to look all of those whom I trust AND all of those who would judge me and say “I have made the right choice?” Would I then be truly in love if I had done such a thing? Wouldn’t anyone?
Love itself contains so many hurdles. The odds are already stacked against, dare I say, more “traditional” relationships. Same-sex couples endure far more to get to the point of marriage than my wife and I ever saw. If the path to a mixed gender marriage is a 5k run, same-sex couples run a triathalon to get to the same point. Who are we, anyone, to say they have not the right to cross the finish line?
I try to be spiritual and graceful, but I was moved to tears by Olbermann’s take on this matter. He says it far better than I could.
The full text of the segment can be found at buzznet.com
Tags: CA, california, gay, marriage, olbermann, prop 8, same-sex
You are right. Olbermann’s reaction conveys many of my feelings as well. Not just his words, but the physical reaction that was obvious. The tremble in his voice and body, signs that he was consciously controlling his temper.
On Nov 4th, after Obama had been elected, there was also a feeling I got that the people of this country were finally growing up and maturing in their viewpoints and tolerance of other people. That eight years of paranoia had taken its toll and people were realizing they did not need to be afraid of someone because they were different. Then I heard the news that Prop 8 passed in CA, and I just remember saying, “Huh?”
This is California we are talking about, capitol of the entertainment industry. An industry that has a disproportionate number of openly homosexual members. An industry known for its liberalism. California, where San Francisco and West Hollywood are; places known for gay culture. Didn’t California just get a big economic boost from the influx of people coming to be married? Weren’t they being praised for taking that first giant step?
What is the purpose of banning people from marrying based on race, religion, or national origin? There is none. Aside from the contractual business aspect of marriage, it is about love and sex. Last time I checked, lovers of the same sex have … well I just said it, didn’t I.
Repeal Prop 8!