Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Religion and Government, where do we draw the lines?

With rights for marriage equality on the rise, a debate has been raised on where religion should be able to affect our laws and culture. One of the arguments against Gay marriage, and maybe the most widely supported one, is that God and the bible says it is wrong, and so it is, and gay marriage should not be allowed. But the issue is raised, "Should we base our laws on a religion that not everyone adopts? Also given that if we do, rights will be stripped from some individuals?". For me, and many others, the answer is a firm, solid, NO. Basing our laws just around the dominant religion is not only oppressing other religions, it is oppressing the rights of people in this nation. People then say that it does not oppress people's rights because being gay is a choice. People have done work on seeing if it is a choice, mainly on genetic, hormonal, developmental, social and cultural influences on sexual orientation. Though there is no consensus about exactly what causes people to be gay or lesbian, however, most scientists believe that it is not a direct choice. So basing our laws around the fact that Christianity prohibits it is cruel, and is also breaking the establishment clause. It says that the government is not allowed to "establish" a religion. By proclaiming our laws, we are establishing that we are a Christian theocracy. While people can argue other ideas, in the end gay marriage is about either giving everyone the same rights, or giving a gourd of people less rights because of a predisposition.
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15 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 20, 2013 at 10:18 AM

    Not only is it in violation of the establishment clause, but it is also a violation of the equal protection clause in the 14th amendment.

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    1. UnknownNovember 20, 2013 at 5:23 PM

      And, surprisingly, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, this applied to cases involved with employment, etc.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 20, 2013 at 3:29 PM

    Ben I agree completely. Many states deny gay marriage, and I believe this deeming gays as lesser citizens of the U.S." Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law " In this case, the liberty of gays is being deprived, they have less privileges; therefore this is a violation of the 14th Amendment.

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  3. AnonymousNovember 20, 2013 at 3:49 PM

    The equal protection clause is the most applicable here. Only the clueless people would cite religion in government, since it has become a reflex for people to scream out the "separation of church and state" quote from Thomas Jefferson without much thought.

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    1. AnonymousNovember 20, 2013 at 4:38 PM

      CCCCCCOMBO QUOTE

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    2. UnknownNovember 20, 2013 at 5:21 PM

      Most people would associate the Civil Right Act of 1964 with racial issues, but it would also apply here. When talking about the 14th Amendment, you might want to specify the Section (in this case you mean 1).

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    3. UnknownNovember 20, 2013 at 5:28 PM

      Paul, I do think that the religious aspect is an important one, not something that "only the clueless people would cite", unless you are saying that, "god forbid", Hank Green is a clueless person. Yes, nowhere in the Constitution does it DIRECTLY reference the Separation of Church and State, but Jefferson, in an 1802 letter, said that the first amendment built a "wall" between the government and religion.

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    4. UnknownNovember 20, 2013 at 5:31 PM

      So, yes I partly agree with you (in that the argument that Separation of Church and State is not much of a compelling one, unless you provide research) but also that govermental interference in religion is morally wrong, and basically violating the first amendment, which implied, but does not state, separation of church and state. And I am relatively sure that one of you smart children is going to point out some major gap in my 3 paragraphs or random ranting that leads to no place.

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  4. Will MoskowNovember 20, 2013 at 4:56 PM

    A very complicated subject well explained. Good job you have some good opinions.

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  5. AnonymousNovember 21, 2013 at 5:56 AM

    The intigration of the human rights stories into your blog is great, not only is it a good subject to talk about, but it creates one of the most interesting things for the readers, controversy.

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  6. AnonymousNovember 21, 2013 at 8:35 AM

    Your title draws me in, very seductive. I also like your opinion on this topic,

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  7. AnonymousNovember 21, 2013 at 4:59 PM

    When everyone says the holy books don't support gays. That is wrong. The holy books (At least what I know) state they don't that religion to be gay or lesbian. It does not say people should not be allowed to be gay, it higly suggests that members of that religion dont be gay.

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  8. AnonymousNovember 21, 2013 at 5:01 PM

    I honestly think that it should be allowed, even though i do not suggest it for people of my religion.

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  9. AnonymousNovember 21, 2013 at 5:01 PM

    I agree great post.

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  10. AnonymousNovember 22, 2013 at 7:00 AM

    I think that the religions we have in this world are good. I don't think that we should establish anymore unless people have proven that the realigion that they wanted to establish could not cause problems.

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