Gay marriage was legal in 22 countries before today. The United States is the 23rd country to allow its citizens to enter into a same-sex marriage. 12 percent of the world is now on board with this. The North-american continent, in its entirety, allows for same-sex couples to be married. South America is close to follow. The Netherlands started the trend at the turn of the century in 2000 followed by Belgium and Spain.
There is a separation of church and state here. Let's go back to our roots here for a minute. Our Founding Fathers made the trip across the atlantic ocean to celebrate religious freedom and to start a new life on new land with new policies. Those policies may have been founded on the Christian religion but that did not stop others from practicing catholicism or any other denominations. They indicated they wanted their people to be free and to make the choices they wanted; to fulfill their destiny. America was founded on the concept of providing opportunity for its citizens. The opportunity to choose.
Freedom of religion allows you to believe in anything you want. Christianity, Baptism, Judaism, Islam, and Wiccan are just some examples of ever changing denominations. I believe the only reason homosexual relationships are an issue is because of religion and tradition. Something all of these religions have in common though is love. Love is universal, and no ones love is greater than another's love. No ones love justifies something over another's love. Heterosexual love is just as equal to the law as homosexual love. Engraved onto the front of the supreme court is Equal Justice Under Law. The opportunity to choose.
All of you choosing to not be okay with this law passing, great for you. I appreciate you utilizing your freedom to not be okay with it. All of you jumping for joy at this miraculous right that has now been nationally granted, I applaud you too. You're choosing to celebrate. America allows that. The opportunity to choose.
To me this is a win-win. Anybody can get married to anyone and all of the faiths can maintain their opposition as well. As long as no one is hurting anyone people can do as the please.
Think of it like this:
Your a minister and same-sex couple comes to you and asks to have their wedding at your church. You have the right to say no or say yes.
Your a minister and a heterosexual couple comes to you and asks to have their wedding at your church. You still have the right to say no or say yes.
You have the right to refuse or grant service to anyone. Is refusing service that a good business decision? No, not necessarily, but you have the right to have a say. The opportunity to choose.
So in all, what do I think of this? This is a miraculous day for our nation. Love is love and no one should be able to stop that. A marriage certificate might just be a piece of paper to you but to others its a lifestyle, its a binding agreement to their vows, its a reminder, and its a piece of history. No law would keep me from getting married or spending the rest of my life with someone I love. This community is just asking for acceptance and recognition if they did want to get married. They were asking for the opportunity to choose.
Jusice Anthony Kennedy makes light to the importance of marriage and equality:
"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.” The opportunity to choose.
If you don't believe, you lose. If you don't fight, you lose. If you discriminate, you lose. How do you win? You love. You choose.
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