Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Proposition 8 - If it wins, what next?

It looks like Proposition 8 is winning.  I heard on the radio that the Prop 8 folks are planning on going to the Supreme Court to argue that all existing gay marriages done by the state be annulled.  Sigh...

My take on this: it's an ongoing effort.  One has to hold the vision of where we want to go.  Barack Obama, a black man, is now our next president.  Yes we can.

This last week, I listened a lot to the concerns of the Yes on 8 folks.  What I am hearing is that they have strong religious beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman.  There is a sense that any other kind of marriage is "unnatural."   There is a feeling of the sanctity of marriage, that it is a union blessed by God and should not be tampered with by the State.

I can see how one might think that way.  I can see how the thought of a gay couple getting married is like "ewww" and feels "wrong."  One could argue, well, why not allow a man or woman to marry a sheep next?

But seeing so many gay couples get married, these arguments just fall away.  I wish those who feel gay marriage is "wrong" or "unnatural" could be at these weddings like a fly on the wall and see the love that is there. 

When I am at these weddings, I see the sanctity in their vows.  The power of those vows and that commitment is there as fully as at the heterosexual weddings I have been at.  I feel God's blessings and support descend upon these couples during their vows like a blanket of light. 

What is sacred and holy is not the shape of the bodies containing two loving souls, but the love itself, and the act of commitment and sacrifice that makes that love manifest.  The outer form of the two souls is just window dressing.

Since I have had that experience, I believe that it is morally right that we should allow any two loving souls to make the commitment of marriage.  Anything that prevents that is discrimination and goes against God's loving nature.  So, the fight goes on.

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