Show t 9 Gay a Marriage e Debate ea e I J Marriage by Any Other Name LJ Lither Staff Staff Writer We as a people often believe that our own morality is superior to that of our neighbor Morality goes hand in hand with the values of the community This is where the problem starts There is a huge moral Question question facing us today Should hould gays be allowed to get married The majority United of the people in the United States say no And of course most laws support this belief So my question question question ques ques- tion is this If the majority of our citizens support the current laws on the topic does it make it right My answer is No Often in the past Morality has sided blind us into doing things that we should have known were wrong One of the greatest examples is the Japanese containment camps during during- World War T Two 1 wo And as if that was not enough the United States Supreme Court ruled In times of war the government can take drastic steps There are so many examples examples examples exam exam- ples of our Morality taking over what should be common common common com com- mon sense that I cannot list them all However here are a few highlights When the Founding Fathers signed the United States Constitution a aBlack aBlack aBlack Black man was only 5 3 of ofa a person We have broken almost all the treaties we have ever had with the Native Americans During the Civil War African Americans were promised twenty acres and a mule if they would fight which they never received Women did not get the right to vote until the early And we must not forget McCarthyism In Inthe Inthe Inthe the land of the Free and the Brave we have Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion But during the age of McCarthyism these rights we claim all should have were only extended to those who thought as the majority did Why does gay marriage scare us There are many reasons why Marriage by definition is a religious act and most religious people It was not until 1998 that a law was removed from the South Carolina Constitution that v i Y r racial marri marriage ge are taught not to question Most people believe religion religion religion reli reli- gion gives them the basis for their morality to know what is right and what is wrong The problem is when you take these two statements and put them together At an early age many people go to church and are told many many things Add to this the idea of not questioning and you have created a dangerous danger danger- ous concept So how did I draw the conclusion that supporting gay marria marriage marriage e is the right thing to do First being gay in our society is not an anomaly Historically there has always been between six and ten percent percent percent per per- cent in any given society Most respected psychologists psychologists psychologists believe that people are born with a natural sexual sexual sexual sex sex- ual preference This idea intrigued me I started thinking Is the only difference between me and a gay man one of sexual preference Do we have the same life goals to have a successful job a anice anice anice nice home and or of course a nice car If I can accept the idea that a gay man wants these things too and andI I acknowledge e that I want to be married married someday then I have to accept that he wants these things too There have been many reasons given to me why marriage must stay between a man and a woman Marriage has always been between a aman aman aman man and a woman The purpose of marriage is to procreate God made Ad Adam tn a nd Eve rt dam n and Steve And it is just out flat-out unnatural As for the laws prohibiting prohibit prohibit- ing mg same sex marriage remember law makers make mistakes It was not until 1998 that a law was removed from the South Carolina Constitution that prohibited interracial mar mar- And you must remember this mis if the only difference between you and a gay person is a sexual sexual sexual al preference and you have the same goals of house job and car then you must forget what you have nave have been taught If you do yo you will come to the same conclusion I did |