Dear Readers,
First, I want to apologize that I am not able to write my
reviews of Avengers: Age of Ultron or Daredevil
this month. Things have been pretty busy with writing my thesis and
everything, and before I knew it, it is two days to the end of June and I still
have not written anything for you lovely people. So, in light of current events, I have decided to get a bit
political in this post. If you
have no interest in politics, feel free to scroll down to some of my previous
posts, and please come back next month, when I should be back to pop culture
analysis.
As an American living in Ireland, over the last few months,
I have been constantly exposed to conversations, facebook posts, articles, and
videos advocating marriage equality.
After the Supreme court decision on Friday, it seems like this issue is
the dominant topic of conversation for the majority of people in my friend
circles, and I have come to realize that I am a part of a silent minority,
afraid of speaking out in public circles for fear of recrimination from an
intolerant majority.
So, I wanted to take this opportunity to break my silence on
the issue of gay marriage, its legalization here in Ireland, and the recent
Supreme Court decision legalizing it in the USA. I know that this is a sensitive issue, and I do not mean for
this post to be in any way hurtful to any of my friends who are on the opposite
side of this issue. This is me,
working out my thoughts verbally, and trying to convey them to the other
side. I don’t think I will convince
anyone, but perhaps I can help people be a little more open minded about the
issue.
Before I start talking about marriage, I want to briefly
discuss my views of homosexuality in general. I am a Christian, and I believe that homosexual actions are
sinful. I can already hear the
angry cries of “homophobe” and “bigot” that will accompany this statement,
however, allow me to explain. My
faith requires me to believe in the Word of God as a source of Truth and a
guideline for proper Christian behavior.
Also, from my studies of the Bible, I believe that there is a strong
case for declaring homosexuality a sin.
There are two big conditions that I must attach to this statement. First, there are many sins, and
homosexuality is in no way “special” or “the worst.” I believe an individual is just as likely to go to hell for
gluttony or gossiping as they are for being gay. Human nature is inherently fallen, and each individual has
their own issues that will prevent them from being in perfect relationship with
God. That is why Christians
believe we need Jesus, the only person to ever live a perfect life, to save us,
because we cannot conquer our pride or selfishness or dishonesty without his
power living in us. This brings me
to the second condition. I believe
that it is only the power of Christ that empowers to live a life free of
sin. Personally, I am still a
flawed and sinful individual, despite having access to the power of the Holy
Spirit. I am still selfish,
fearful, and proud. If I, who has
been redeemed by Christ, cannot continuously live according to the standard of
Christian behavior, I have no right to expect those who reject the work of
Christ to live according to those standards. I cannot expect those who do not have Christ living in them
to live a Christian life.
Homosexuality is not the first sinful behavior to be
endorsed as good by our society, nor will it be the last. Modern American culture encourages a
level of consumption and gluttony that is appalling, adultery and heterosexual
immorality are commonplace. Lying
is justified in the rush for personal advancement and theft is allowable as
long as you don’t get caught. It
is not the end of the world to have society and governments endorsing an action
that Christians ultimately believe to be immoral.
And this is where the issue of marriage equality becomes
complicated for me. Marriage, as
we know it today, has a complex bundle of meanings, which are dominantly
religious or political. From the
religious definition, I have trouble supporting the legalization of gay
marriage. Marriage is a sacrament
in some churches, reflecting the relationship between Christ and his
church. To call a homosexual relationship,
which Christian doctrine views as sinful, a marriage is to associate the name
of Christ with that which He finds abhorrent. Such a definition of marriage fundamentally questions the
foundations of the Christian faith.
Thus, from the perspective of the religious definition of the term, of
marriage as holy matrimony, I am opposed to legalizing gay marriage.
On the other hand, marriage is also a political term, a term
that arises from the practice of government giving special benefits to two
people who have institutionalized their relationship with each other in a
recognized manner. From this
perspective, gay marriage should be legalized. It is not the responsibility of a government to legislate
morality, but the government does have a responsibility treat members of the
society it governs equally. Gay
marriage should be legally recognized because heterosexual marriage is legally
recognized.
Thus, when the marriage referendum passed by popular vote
here in Ireland, I was no in any way upset. Would I have voted yes? Probably not, simply because of the dictates of my own
conscience and problematic religious connotations of the term marriage. However, the people of Ireland declared
that they wished to preserve the equality of their citizens over a historic
Christian morality, and that was completely acceptable.
Which brings me to the recent Supreme Court decision. Having expressed my indifference for
Ireland’s decision to legalize gay marriage, many people assume that I am
equally indifferent to the process by which it was legalized in the USA. The problem is the way in which this
legalization occurred. Under the
US constitution, the role of the Supreme court is to interpret the law and the
constitution. This decision,
however, was a blatant example of legislating from the bench. The USA is a democratic republic! The
power to make laws rests firmly in the hands of the congress, not of the
Supreme Court. By unilaterally
declaring gay marriage to be legal in the United State, the Supreme Court is
trampling the rights and expressed desires of the people of the various
states. This is a usurpation
of power, power that should be designated to the individual states, and to the
popular consensus of the people within the individual states, has been
appropriated at a federal level, and worse, by the judicial system. The five judges who voted to declare
gay marriage legal in the states took upon themselves, an unelected,
non-representative body, the authority to declare law in opposition to the
expressed opinions of the majorities in a number of states.
Consider if the decision had been slightly different. Imagine if the Supreme Court had ruled
that, regardless of what the individual states might vote and decide, the
federal government defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and for this
reason, no individual state has the right to legalize gay marriage. There would have been a huge public
outcry against such a decision, because it would be seen as flying in the face
of individual rights and democracy.
But the current decision, which violates the rights of states that have
voted against gay marriage and the individual rights of freedom of religion and
expression, has been viewed as an entirely positive and welcome development.
The assumptions behind this ruling are patronizing and
bigoted, and the repercussions it will have throughout the states are
disturbing. This ruling rests on a
series of unfortunate assumptions; first that Americans actually want this
change in their laws, but thus far have been incapable of voting properly to
express this desire. This
patronizing assumption questions the mental and political capability of the
individual American citizen, and is an expression of an elitist mindset that is
in fundamental opposition to the principles of democracy. The second foundational assumption of
the ruling is that everyone who disagrees with the ruling is entirely wrong to
do so, and is morally bankrupt for professing such a belief in the light of
current opinion on social equality.
This assumption is even more dangerous than the first, because it is the
sort of bigoted fundamentalism that is usually only condemned in churches. The thoughtless and unwavering
assumption that “my opinion is the correct one” and the belief that the
rightness of an opinion entitles one to act oppressively against the expressed
wish of the people is a basic tenant of a dictatorship, not a democracy like
the United States.
The tyrannical imposition of minority belief upon the
majority of the American people has frightening implications for those who
stand on the “wrong” side of these fundamentalists. The enforced legalization of gay marriage has given an air
of legitimacy to a despotic minority who will use their new protected status to
oppress and silence anyone who disagrees with their opinion. This has been the case in instances of
businesses, who were sued after Christian owners refused service to homosexual
couples on the basis of their religious beliefs. The right of the business owners to practice their religion
according to the dictates of their own conscience has been subsumed by radical
fundamentalists who seek to use the government to impose their morality on
anyone who might have a different opinion. The very issue for which they condemned the Christian
opposition has become the platform of the advocates of homosexual marriage.
I realize my tone may have gotten a bit strident toward the
end of this post. I am frustrated
at the gross usurpation of power that I see in my nation at the moment, as the authority
which is supposed to be allocated to the people through the states has been
shifted to the federal government, and by the hypocrisy I see in those who
oppose the imposition of Christian ideals upon non-Christians yet seek to
legislatively enforce their own opinions on those who happen to disagree with
them. Ultimately, this is a
complicated issue with many sides and opinions, and much of the vitriol and
hatred seems to arise from those on both sides who are simply unable to
consider the opinion and positions of those on the opposite side of the
debate. I hope that this post has
presented something of an alternative viewpoint, again, not in the interest of
convincing people to change their minds, necessarily, but rather, of
demonstrating the complexity of opinion without reducing such an argument to a
black and white dichotomy.
Well, that was a bit of a heavy post. I have been thinking about writing
something like this for a few months now, and the recent supreme court decision
finally pushed me to get this finalized.
Hopefully I will be back to the fun stuff next month, and I hope to see
you all then!
Back to Reality!
