#6: Go Connecticut!

So a big !!!HIGH-FIVE!!! to Connecticut's Supreme Court today for joining the group of decent states that support gay marriage. I'm totally surprised and thrilled by this! This comes at a great time for me personally because in my English class I'm doing my research projects on same-sex marriage. If you hadn't already gathered, I'm a big supporter.

Mainly because I am a big fan of a very simple principle: separation of church and state. I was meaning to write about this anyway, but this sort of spurred me to do it sooner rather than later.

Our country was originally settled by a group of people trying to escape religious persecution. Some of the main founding pillars of America was freedom, of speech, of religion etc. So I don't understand how this principle has degraded so much in the last two centuries. Yes, we are allowed to follow whatever religion we want, but some people make it very difficult to be of a faith differing from the status quo. I understand that the majority of Americans are of generally the same religion, over three fourths of Americans call themselves Christians of some denomination (ARIS, 2001). And that's fine, be Christian, but don't force your faith on me. Plain and simple, I know your God is out there and I know where to find him if I want to. Don't knock on my door, don't mail me a letter, and, no pun intended, for the love of god, don't work your religious doctrine into the laws of out country.

I understand very well that two hundred years ago, to base a government off of the religion of the general public was not an unreasonable thing. But it is now. You now have a nation full of people from every belief and background.

What I'm talking about, better yet, what I'm pleading for, is true, complete separation of church and state. *gasp!* What is she talking about, you might say. We have separation, don't we?

WRONG!
Part of the problem with having three fourths of a nation be of the same religious orientation is they only vote for leaders who share their views and who they feel will protect the views that they hold dear. Translation: If you're not Christian, your religion doesn't get counted in politics. Which would be fine, if Christianity held no sway with politics. But it does. teh suck.

My main goal with this rant is to pitch my personal opinion regarding how the whole separation should be handled. Why not have legal matters be solely legal matters. Why not have a Legal Marriage Institution and anyone who wants to get married can; hetero, homo, polygamous, whatever, as long as it's between consenting adults or minors with parental consent. AND THEN! You can take it up with your church to make your union valid in the eyes of your Deity. Legally get married, and then have the big traditional ceremony in your place of worship of choice.

I personally don't feel that sexual orientation should be no more relevant than skin color, gender, eye color, height etc. It's a way that you are that you can't help. And gays are being persecuted because of it. Do you shun your left handed friends? Do they pass laws saying marriage is a union between two right handed people? No, because it's silly.

And as far as the Christians who want to say that it's wrecking the sanctity of your straight marriage, grow up and quit bitching. You should be comfortable enough in your relationship to get over it. What do you do when you find out that your fellow clergy member is having an affair? Do you say that they are hurting the sanctity of your marriage? No, because what other people do is irrelevant to your personal relationships. Infidelity is a bigger deal than homosexuality. Notice Adultery is on the Big Ten List and being gay isn't?

That's because homosexuality wasn't frowned upon until the year 390. That's several centuries after Christianity was established. Why the delay? I'm gonna guess because some disgruntled Roman was getting any man-ass, but that's my highly uneducated guess.

All I'm trying to say is, let's really separate things so people can live their lives by their own set of beliefs.

Also- It rained a LOT today. By the time I was done with classes my jeans were soggy up to my knees. And it was only like fifty degrees so I froze. big time freezing.