Attended a wedding in Richmond, Virginia, recently between told old friends — both retired Navy officers.
They are both men and both are now happily married in the Old Dominion, one of 36 states — and the District of Columbia — where those of the same gender can legally join together in matrimony.
On Friday, federal panel of judges in New Orleans will hold a hearing on three Southern states that still practice homophobia against those of the same sex who wish to love and marry.
Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi still ban gay marriage. Federal judges in two of those states — Texas and Mississippi — overturned the bans there as unconstitutional but U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in Louisiana bucked the tend and backed the ban there.
So three judges will hear arguments on all three states in a rare combined hearing.
The U.S. Supreme Court last year avoided dealing directly with the issue and let rulings from the lower courts stand, which cleared a sharp increase of the right to marry for gays around the country.
The high court may finally put the issue on the calender for this term but, then again, it may not.
In a country where “majority rules,” the issue would seem decided since 36 of 50 states now grant the right. But majority rules often fails when a loud minority uses disruption, disinformation and disharmony to stall the inevitable.
From my point of view, those of the same sex who wish to marry should have every right, legal or moral, to do so. Those who pound the Bible and claim it is a sin use the long dis-proven practice of picking and choosing obscure parts of a book that even ardent Biblical scholars claim is too often misunderstood and misquoted.
I’m a member of Presbyterian Church USA, the largest denomination of that faith and one that accepts gay marriage and allows ministers within the church to officiate marriages between those of the same sex.
Some churches in that Presbytery have left in anger over that one decision. Their departures are, in my opinion, a stance that displays a lack of faith or acceptance of the true teachings of Christianity.
True Christianity, from my beliefs, are based not on hate or repression but on love and acceptance.
So I stood, watched and honored two men who served their country join together to serve each other as a married couple. I am proud to know them and I hope they are happy together for the rest of their lives.
I love them both and I am proud to be their friend.
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Copyright © 2015 Capitol Hill Blue
1 thought on “Gay marriage is a legal and moral right”
And those who claim that allowing gay marriage violates “religious freedom” ignore that TRUE religious freedom would be allowing each individual church to decide whether or not to allow gay marriage within its walls.
I think many who yell about this violating religious freedom don’t want the churches to decide on their own because they’re afraid that many churches would allow it if not forbidden by law. They’re perfectly fine with Big Government when that Big Government is doing what they want it to do.
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