The Evolution of a Society.
Social evolution... It's always been there and it will only continue to move forward. The civil rights movement did not begin or end with the dramatic events of the 1950s and '60s. Since our nation's founding, ordinary citizens have struggled to make America fulfill its promise of equality under the law. Just think back to the struggle that blacks, women, and what every other minority has gone through in the fight for full equality. We still aren't all the way there for those groups mentioned but the progress is huge. The issue of full equality for gays and lesbians in our nation is the issue that will define my generation.
This debate is not going away. It touches too many Americans to be swept under the rug and forgotten about. Over the coming decades, this matter will be resolved, and we will all have to answer to the next generations about the role we played in this struggle. How will you look back on it? What role would you have played?
Though changes are always accompanied with popular unrest and civil friction, our nation has marched steadily towards the philosophy of total equality that our founding fathers left us. We will reach it. It's just a matter of how long will it take.
In our search for this ultimate social truth, we have surpassed our founders' simple understanding of it. To stay true to their message in modern times we ignored their wishes and freed the slaves, gave suffrage to women, and provided citizenship to American Indians. Thomas Jefferson would not have approved of our actions, but we really don't give a damn. Time and experience breed a greater understanding of morality. The prejudices of our founders were wrong, and we are a better nation for shaking them off.
Now it is the GLBT community's turn to claim their rightful place as equals in the American Dream. Would our founding fathers smile upon this? No, but I have no doubt that gays and lesbians will succeed and that the cause of liberty will prosper as a result. It always has and it always will.
There is no real legal argument against gay marriage. Instead, the issue has been fought almost solely from a religious perspective, appealing for the preservation of the "sanctity" of marriage. However, this makes little sense as the "marriage" in contention has nothing to do with religion or the church. It's about the rights and protections that come with that civil contract.
Gays and lesbians are seeking legal marriage and the rights and privileges associated with it. We are not asking for approval from the churches, and such approval is not even the government's to give. If a church decides to preside over a same-sex marriage that is their choice.
Think about this.
This debate is not going away. It touches too many Americans to be swept under the rug and forgotten about. Over the coming decades, this matter will be resolved, and we will all have to answer to the next generations about the role we played in this struggle. How will you look back on it? What role would you have played?
Though changes are always accompanied with popular unrest and civil friction, our nation has marched steadily towards the philosophy of total equality that our founding fathers left us. We will reach it. It's just a matter of how long will it take.
In our search for this ultimate social truth, we have surpassed our founders' simple understanding of it. To stay true to their message in modern times we ignored their wishes and freed the slaves, gave suffrage to women, and provided citizenship to American Indians. Thomas Jefferson would not have approved of our actions, but we really don't give a damn. Time and experience breed a greater understanding of morality. The prejudices of our founders were wrong, and we are a better nation for shaking them off.
Now it is the GLBT community's turn to claim their rightful place as equals in the American Dream. Would our founding fathers smile upon this? No, but I have no doubt that gays and lesbians will succeed and that the cause of liberty will prosper as a result. It always has and it always will.
There is no real legal argument against gay marriage. Instead, the issue has been fought almost solely from a religious perspective, appealing for the preservation of the "sanctity" of marriage. However, this makes little sense as the "marriage" in contention has nothing to do with religion or the church. It's about the rights and protections that come with that civil contract.
Gays and lesbians are seeking legal marriage and the rights and privileges associated with it. We are not asking for approval from the churches, and such approval is not even the government's to give. If a church decides to preside over a same-sex marriage that is their choice.
Think about this.
This entry was posted
on Monday, April 25, 2005 at 10:02 AM.
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Byyes.
what you said.
nice.
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