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Homosexual Marriage and the Indianapolis Star (an open 'letter to the editor')
March 1, 2004 00:00
Friday's letters to the editor in The Indianapolis Star left me astonished at just how little many people in this country understand about the nature of American democracy and the freedom of religion enshrined in the first amendment. It was pointed out by several individuals that the issue of homosexual marriage is all about God's laws, and they are surely correct. Unfortunately for them, they did not realize that this is the strongest argument one could possibly give for why homosexual marriage should be legal in the United States! Our nation's Constitution, by separating church and state and guaranteeing freedom of religion, absolutely excludes the legitimacy of permitting or prohibiting a practice based on arguments that have to do with God's laws or will. On the contrary, our Constitution ensures people have the freedom to break none other than the first two of the Ten Commandments. People have the right in our nation to worship gods other than the Judeo-Christian one, and to worship idols - flagrant violations of Biblical laws! We are not a Christian country, but a democracy that ensures the rights of Christians and others to freely practice their religion without the religious views of others being imposed on them. In a society that accepts homosexuality as a legal way of life, to suggest that we can nonetheless deny homosexuals the same rights as others have on religious grounds is to undermine the very foundations of our democracy. I doubt that this is the point the individuals who sent the letters in question wanted to make, but they have made it extremely clearly nonetheless. The issue in the homosexual marriage debate is about religion, and therefore it is in its essence about democracy. Contrary to what many letters said, if we fail to actively protect the freedom of those we disagree with, then will our society's foundations be eroded and the very nature of our society be in jeopardy, because the foundation of the United States is not Christianity but "liberty and justice for all".