The spirit of America, forgotten?
I want to address two topics in this post. I will start by presenting my opinion on a current and very controversial topic. I feel strongly in my beliefs on this topic but know that many people will disagree. I hope you read it with an open mind and examine the issue not the emotions. As I said, my opinion is strong on this topic but it is not the important issue in this post. Rather my second proposition is the one that I want people to walk away thinking about.

My first topic is my opinion on homosexual marriage; my second topic is why my opinion is arbitrary and you just wasted your time reading it.

Homosexual Marriage,
Correct me if I am wrong, but the only argument that I have ever heard against homosexual marriage concerns the “sanctity of marriage”. A lot of people consider marriage a very sacred bond that they define as a union between a man and a woman. There are two ways to get married; in the eyes of your church and in the eyes of the law. When talking about the sanctity of marriage, by definition, you can only be referring to marriage in the eyes of the church. The new laws that seek to allow homosexual marriage only apply to marriage in the eyes of the law. No one is suggesting that we should force churches to marry homosexuals. Considering the religious views of most denominations, churches probably should not marry homosexuals. They have the right not to. These laws are simply stating that legally, homosexual couples should have the same rights as heterosexuals when it comes to marriage and all of the advantages of marriage.

Food for thought:
If we should not allow homosexual couples to marry because it devalues the sanctity of marriage why do we allow a heterosexual couple that are Satanists to get married in a court of law? These satanic heterosexual couples have been able to marry for decades. Now don’t misinterpret. I am not making any implication or connection between homosexuals and satanists. I don’t think there are similarities. Rather I am taking an extreme case to push a point. It seems in the eyes of religion, (and I think most of the Religious Right will agree to this) blatant and deliberate worshipping of Lucifer is far worse than homosexuality, yet they have the right to marry without any argument from the religious right. The point is they have been marrying for years without devaluing the sanctity of marriage because they do so in the eyes of the law not in the eyes of your church. Period.

The Meat (and this following point addresses a lot more than just homosexual marriage):
As I stated before you just wasted your time. Why? Because it doesn’t matter what my opinion on homosexual marriage is. It doesn’t matter what your opinion on homosexual marriage is. It doesn’t matter what the Pope thinks, it doesn’t matter what George W. Bush thinks, it doesn’t matter what the majority of Americans think. Only one thing matters and many many people have forgotten this. In fact I very seldom hear anyone mention it but … the assessment that matters is that of the Constitution of The United States of America (which embodies the spirit of the United States).

When our Forefathers settled this country they wrote a Constitution to govern it. They were brilliant writers and wrote a brilliant Constitution. I want to address two aspects of the Constitution that I feel make it so brilliant; it’s openness and foresight.

These Forefathers knew what it was to be discriminated against. They had experienced not having the right to practice their religious beliefs or be represented in the government. That is why the United States was founded. Accordingly, when they wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights they did so with great care to make sure that everyone that lives in this country will live free and never be discriminated against.

Many people, especially the Conservative Right and the people who would disagree with the beginning of this post, love to point out that our Founding Fathers were very religious, very Christian and not ashamed to show it. These Forefathers spoke of God a lot, they prayed a lot. I agree and that is what makes my point so strong. They were very religious and Christian. Yet they only mention religion twice in the Constitution, both times banning its role in government (legal) issues (religion was mentioned once in Article IV when it states “… no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” and again in the first Amendment when it states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …”.) Our Forefathers did this very deliberately. They acted out of an understanding of what it's like to be discriminated against, they knew it was wrong, it should never happen again, to any one, for any reason. They also did this because they had foresight. They knew that without provisions in the Constitution that Americans (human nature) would soon forget and would start pushing their views (some of religious merit) on others, they would slowly start using religious arguments in government, and would start discriminating against others that were not in the majority.

For instance, here only 200 hundred years later. People think that in order to pledge allegiance to this great country in which we live everyone should have to declare their belief in God. People believe that our legal system is one and the same/based on the Christian Ten Commandments. People think that marriage is an exclusive right granted and governed by their religious beliefs.

Wait… Don’t yell at me yet… Bravo, Bravo, to all of the people above. For this Constitution that I have spoken of grants you the rights to believe and proclaim these opinions.

I may agree with you, I may not; this is not the issue here. What is this issue is the people that think our legally recognized pledge of allegiance (which we require all immigrants applying for citizenship to repeat) should contain a line that declares a belief in a God. What is at issue is the people who think we should blatantly display Christian documents at the entrances to our courts which symbolically proclaim that in this country, with freedom of religion, you will be judge by Christian standards. What is at issue is people who think that laws should be passed so that we can legally discriminate against people who are homosexual, not allow them to marry even in the eyes of the law, because they are different from the majority and some religions do not agree with them.

Pay attention :) This next part is the point.
When considering an issue do you ever stop and ask yourself “what is my belief, what is the belief of this country and the Constitution it was founded on?” Do you ask these questions separately? You should. To me that is the true test of being an American: the ability to see a bigger picture than yourself and your opinion. To be able to say to yourself “a lot of people live in this country, a lot of people are different from me and we all deserve the same freedoms, regardless of my opinion”. That is what makes this country great; it is what makes it different and better than the rest. Most importantly it is the reason you can have your opinion.

I meant for the this post to have this impact on you; remember the freedoms of this country and what they mean, remember the Constitution and what it says. The democratic values that we enjoy in this country are not there as a means to enfource our opinion but rather elicit decisions that benefit the whole. I started this entry talking about homosexual marriage, so let me return to that subject briefly and as an aside. In the United States’ past we have discriminated against many people. We have discriminated based on Race, Sex, Age and probably many other attributes. Each and every time we have tested those practices with the Constitution and found them illegal. At those times there were people that believed we should continue with our discriminatory practices. To us those people seem to be from a different era and much unlike ourselves. We are not racist or chauvinist and we are not prejudiced to the elderly or the young. Yet here again we have a group of people being deprived of the same legal rights endowed to everyone else. This time we are discriminating against people of different sexual orientation. Trust me the Constitution and America has been asked to discriminate many times before, it will recapitulate its answer again. This country, based on freedom and equal rights, will refuse to discriminate on any basis. We extend our freedoms to all, even homosexual couples. That is what makes us the United States of America. Will you stand for equal rights and freedom or will you be one of those people that the future will fail to comprehend, just like those who fought to keep African-Americans or Women subclass Americans?

In Conclusion:
Yes we all have the right to vote and have our opinions heard. They are heard and are acted upon. However, these elected official’s major decisions, the ones that affect the character of this country, are governed by the Constitution and I for one am glad. The Constitution is a doctrine that, rather than based on emotional views, is a guideline that will align decisions to benefit the welfare of the whole and protect the freedoms of each and every one of us. I hope we all stop, reflect, comprehend and embrace these ideals. Too many people feel strongly about a topic (the answer to “what is my belief?”) but never consider or care about “what is the belief of this country and the Constitution it was founded on?”

That’s why I am fed up, why aren’t you?