There is NO reason to ban Same sex marriages and EVERY reason to allow them!
groo39 said:
Politician "A", a known atheist, makes statements about a marriage being between a man and a woman, citing historical examples to support their viewpoint.
That's all well and good but just because a politician makes a statement and cites some out-of-context historical examples does not make him (or her) right.
I can cite you all kinds of "historical" examples in support of "traditional" marriages where the woman is treated as property. I can also cite "historical" examples of mixed-race marriages being forbidden for many generations in many cultures. History is full of examples where people of differing religious backgrounds were forbidden, by law, to marry. Most of these "traditions" were in effect for far longer than our recent "tradition" of equal partnerships between a man and a woman.
If you extend the "traditional" argument to it's logical conclusion, inter-racial and inter-religious marriages should also be illegal. If you go by historical precedent, women should be subservient to men in marriage. If you go by
biblical "tradition", men should be entitled
by law to have multiple wives and to buy and sell them as they please. What about the middle ages where, for hundreds of years, women were forced to marry at the age of fourteen or younger? Should we throw away hundreds of years of fuedal tradition just because teenaged girls deserve the opportunity to grow up and choose their own spouse?
Obviously, none of us are seriously advocating a return to these
historical traditions. Why? Because we are (or
should be) a culture that learns from our past mistakes and strives toward greater equality and fairness. The modern form of marriage would have seemed scandelous to many people as recently as fifty years ago; and it would have seemed
sinfull to that generation's grandparents. However, we have come to realize that equality and fairness are an essensial part of our culture. So we now grant equal rights to both spouses (which we didn't in the past) and we allow people to marry outside of religious or racial boundaries which was (not so long ago) forbidden or discouraged.
In fact, variations of the same arguments we are hearing against same-sex marriages today were used in the American South when laws forbidding inter-racial marriage were struck down...should those laws be reinstated because they violate "tradition". Some of these same arguments were even in use to argue that women should not have the vote...less that
one hundred years ago.
I'm a big fan of tradition when it makes sense. But I don't believe that tradition should come ahead of justice and equality to all humans. It was
right to break tradition and extend the vote to non-whites. It was
right to break tradition and extend the vote to women. It was
right to break tradition and allow couples of mixed "race" to marry. Similarly it is
right to abandon past oppressive laws and allow same-sex marriages to take place.
It is clear that there are some people that are personally uncomfortable with the homosexual lifestyle and that these people are trying to impose their own views on the general population. They look for (what appear to be) scholarly arguments in their attempts to win their argument. However, at the end of the day, there is no valid reason to withold the benefits of marriage from
any sincere and loving adult couple.
Religious organizations and other cultural groups are
already free to reject any marriage with which they disagree. Those couples that do not conform to the guidelines of a religious group have to look elsewhere to have their commitment recognized. However, the state exists to serve every citizen equally and without bias. No Canadian should ever feel that his or her gender, colour, background, country of origin, or sexual orientation, prevents them from enjoying the same rights and privileges as all other Canadians.
While I don't suggest that
religions should be asked to accept marriages they don't support (and neither does the proposed law), I do believe that the state
must extend equal and unbiased rights to each and every law abiding citizen.
The Constitution supports this point of view and the courts have correctly acknowledged this fact. There is nothing else to do but to accept the reality of the situation and make the laws legal within our system.
For those people who would prefer to live in a country where one group's opinions and lifestyle are imposed on others, there are a number of middle-eastern countries that practice Sharia law that might be right up your alley.
In Canada, we are
by law protected from discrimination. If you don't like it, don't stay here. I'm sick of people looking to make exceptions to the constitution because they have personal issues with something that is, really, none of their business!
Zog.