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Religious viewpoint on same sex marriage
Religious viewpoint on same sex marriage
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The issue of gay marriage needs little introduction as it is one of the most widely contended and discussed topics in the United States of America. While the issue is relatively recent one has to question why this is even an issue to begin with. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. Arguments come from both religious groups, as well as secular focused sources. Reasoning against gay marriage ranges from religious immorality, to the idea that giving gays the right to marry would support minoritarianism (giving minority special privileges and advantages in either a legislative or societal capacity). There are countless arguments besides those mentioned, few of which have any substantial grounds to stand on. Gay marriage causes no political or communal grief, except for those who strongly oppose it now. Even for those people gay people exist either way. Whether they are married or not will not change that and their lives will not be dramatically changed from it. Gay marriage has no valid reason to be outlawed and there are plenty of reasons to allow it. Gay bashing is the verbal of physical abuse towards someone who is thought to be homosexual. This form of bullying has become strikingly common in the United States and has only increased. While the frequency of hate crimes towards gays (20.8% in 2011) is less than half that of racial biased hate crimes (46.9%) it is still the second most common source for a hate crime in America, among other such as religious or gender bias. That percentage is still an increase from the previous year at 18.6%, meanwhile the overall count of hate crimes decreased. The types of hate crimes ranged from property crimes, intimidation... ... middle of paper ... ... FBI, 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. Matthews, Meredith. "Words That Hurt." Current Health Teens 38.5 (2012): 14-17. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Victims." FBI. FBI, 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. Bradlaugh. "Secular Right | Reality & Reason." RSS. N.p., 29 Apr. 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Fine Bros. "Kids React to Gay Marriage” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 3 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. "The Fatherless Generation." The Fatherless Generation. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. WANG, Wenjing, and Junjie LI. "Study On Single Parent Family Teenagers' Educational Problems And Social Worker Intervention." Canadian Social Science 8.5 (2012): 121-124. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. Mcpherson, Gareth. "Statistics." United Fathers of California. Cambridge Newspapers, 6 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Wood, James E, Jr. "Religious Human Rights and a Democratic State." Journal of Church and State 4(2004):739. eLibrary. Web. 31 Aug. 2011.
“Death to God, all hail reason!”, cries out the secular world, fervent for nothing but themselves. The new age of skepticism has come, ushered in by God-hating men and dictators bound to satan; and its zealots follow in the footsteps of the rest of the world. They lay down cheerfully in valleys of dry bones and their banner stands, waving through air that is choked by the smoke that rises from their fathers burning in Hell, its motto, “Love and Tolerance.” Words bought by the blood of anyone who dissented. This is the fruit of the religion of Atheism.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals people make up more than ten percent of the population; that means if you are sitting in a classroom of thirty, then more than three of those people are LGBT individuals. However, this overwhelmingly large minority group continues to be one of the least protected by the government as well as most heavily targeted by discrimination and hate crimes. Regardless of the powerful shift in public opinion concerning LGBT individuals during the last twenty years, the laws concerning hate crimes have remained invariable.
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Livingston, Gretchen. The Rise of Single Fathers. 2 July 2013. Web. 11 March 2014 .
Opponents of same-sex marriage have about as many reasons to not allow gay marriage as supporters have to allow it. One reason people don't want gays getting married is because in most religions, it is a sin to be attracted to the same gender, and completely unspeakable to marry them. (TFP Student Action; page 1) They think that if we were to allow gays to marry, it would promote the acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, and society would be forced to accept it. (TFP Student Action; page 1) Children would get confused after seeing two men/women getting married at a church, and may think they can behave this way, even if their religion is against it. (TFP Student Action; page 1) Schools could even begin to teach about the gay culture, due to it being so socially accepted. (TFP Student Action; page 1)
It seems that the vast majority of people assume that gays and lesbians make a decision to be involved in same-sex relationships at some wild or disturbed time in their lives. Beside this assumption being extremely degrading, it is also inaccurate. Think back to the time in your life when you began developing feelings for others—did you decide which gender those feelings would be directed to? Did you make a conscious choice to be heterosexual? Many gays and lesbians are in serious relationships or are seeking a significant other to build a life with, just as their heterosexual counterparts. But some may never get that chance, as same-sex marriage is not universally legal. Everyone be permitted to marry whom they love. The Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage.
Have you ever imagined how a person feels when he/she is told that they cannot spend the rest of their life with the person they love? One is completely in love and they want to get married because, the law does not allow them. One is denied the legal rights that come along with marriage because he/she is in love with a person of the same sex. Unfortunately, these are some of the challenges that lesbian and gay partners get in many nations. And the sad thing about this is that, most of the arguments offered to keep same sex marriages are flawed and reactionary, and based on nothing other than ignorance, fear, prejudice and bigotry. Same sex marriage is a marriage between people of the same sex. Same sex marriages are currently illegal in the US except for a few states. The illegalization of same sex marriages is wrong because, it is a prominent form of prejudice. Same sex couples are not only denied their civil rights, but also their legal and economic benefits. No state should prohibit a person to show their love to another person because of gender because; it does not uphold the fundamental principles of the constitution.
Secularization is a controversial form of social change in modern day society. Secularization is a concept derived from a Latin word meaning “the present age,” the term is generally associated with modern, technologically, and advanced societies. “Secularism is a political tradition that has been evolving for eighteenth centuries. It shares important relationships with other traditions, sustaining complex ties with Judeo-Christianity, and maintaining a long-standing relationship with Islam” ( Hurd, 2004). The term secular has taken on many different meaning through history. The earliest references can be traced to the 13th century, when the notion of the saeculum arose in reference to a binary opposition within Christianity. Priests who withdrew from the world (saeculum) formed the religious clergy, while those living in the world formed the secular clergy (Casanova, 1994). The notion of the ‘secular’ has taken on a range of different meanings over the past eighteen centuries. In today society, the world secular is used to describe a world thought to be in motion, the moving away from religious influence in everyday life.
The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.
Kuehnle, K., & Sullivan, A. (2001). Patterns of Anti-Gay Violence: An Analysis of Incident Characteristics and Victim Reporting. Journal of Intrapersonal Violence .
There are many opponents of gay people as it is, and they all have their reasons to dislike the idea of permitting them get married. One of the main reasons is that the primary purpose of marriage is procreation. Because gay couples are unable to have children, they should not be allowed to marry (Schiffen 495). Another main argument is that the word marriage means the union of one man and one woman. This is a long-standing theme of most major Western religions. Under a proposed bill known as the Defense of Marriage act, marriage is defined as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.” Furthermore, it defines a spouse as “ a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife” (What 1). Under these guidelines, it is quite obvious that gay couples would not be eligible for marriage. People against homosexual marriage also say that it is a person’s choice to be gay. Since the individual chooses to be a homosexual, they should not be given special privileges. Another argument that you hear is that these couples should not get married simply because of the torment and ridicule they would be faced with in their everyday lives. There are news reports from across America telling about how a gay person was beaten or killed just because they were looked at as different. Some of these people would end up the target of verbal abuse and maybe even physical abuse, just because some heterosexual people see them as different.
1 vols. Issues: Hate Crimes. 14 March 2014 www.hrc.org/the-hrc-story>. Joanna Almeida, Renee M. Johnson, Heather L. Corliss, Beth E. Molnar. Emotional Distress among LGBT Youth: The Influence of Perceived Discrimination Based On Sexual Orientation.
...g of same-sex marriage is a violation to the human right of marriage and family is definitely a major concern in the United States of America. The movement towards homosexual rights has received huge advancements in today’s modern, liberalized society, including the banning of discrimination against gays in numerous states. Homosexuals are now able to take part in federal, state, and local government positions, serve in the military, and are not allowed to be discriminated against in any way; hopefully one day in the near future overturning the laws against same-sex marriage in over 30 states. The human right of marriage and family is obviously inappropriately being violated through the issue of same-sex relationships in the United States, but slowly cultivating with a nationwide attempt with increasing support and determination towards freedom and equality for all.
Same-sex marriage is a broad and current controversy in the United States today. The movement to legalize same-sex marriage started in the 1970; however, it is still not legal in all fifty states yet (“Same-sex marriage in the United States”). Legalizing same-sex marriage should not be a debate. People should be able to marry who they love regardless of sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage should be legal because it is a human right, religion should not interfere with state laws, it does not adversely affect the heterosexual community in any way, and same-sex marriage can actually benefit our society.