marriage is not only a Christian Institution

I read a blog today that disturbed me. I'm not going to post the url because even though I didnt like the contents I'm not trying to send a bunch of haters that blogger's way. The blog was about why the author thought gay marriage should not be allowed.

What got me was that the man's main arguement for outlawing it was that marriage was an entirely "Christian institution". I couldn't help but think "are you kidding me?" I guess no one got married earlier than the 2,000 odd years ago that marked the start of Christianity. That is the biggest load of crap I have ever read.

Its as bad as that article I read where this Christian lady wanted everyone who wasn't Christian to quit celebrating Christmas and get their own holiday. She was astonished and unbelieving at first when I and many other readers informed her of Christmas' very Pagan roots. Lol, no one stopped there either her illusions about Easter and even Groundhog day were shattered by the time readers were done with her. Even other Christians were laughing and telling her she needed to grow in Christ and become more informed.

I saw that same kind of ignorance at work when I read that blogger's claims that marriage was a christian institution. Marriage is an institution and tradition among people of all cultures, ethnicity's and faiths. And with each group its idea of what marriage should be is a bit different. And that is the way it should be. We should celebrate our differences instead of trying to force people to bend to our idea of how things should be.

I acknowledge that Christianity has many followers. In fact roughly 1/3 of the world's population is Christian making it the largest religion in the world. But what that really means is that 2/3 of the world's population are something else. So why is 1/3 getting to make the decisions for the 2/3?

The other main argument that I see against gay marriage is that Christians feel marriage is the foundation for strong families. I believe that too (not to say that long term boyfriend, girlfriend relationships can't ever be just as stable as a marriage. they can but that is usually not the case. And children born to a married couple that stay together are statistically better off than those raised by single parents or an unmarried couple.).

But I don't see how gay marriage undermines traditional marriage. What are they afraid of? Are they worried that untold number of housewives are secretly lesbians that are going to leave their husbands and run off with their girlfriends if gay marriage becomes legal? lol, i just don't get it.

Even though I am divorced I actually have a pretty traditional view of marriage. I believe that married couples should do everything and anything in their power to stay together, paticularly if they have children. I used to believe this so strongly that I tried to save my marriage even though my ex-husband was severely physically abusive to me. I did everything I could but after many injuries such as cracked ribs, broken teeth and a split scalp that had to be stapled back together I realized that what I had wasn't really a marriage anyway. For me it was a form of bondage that chained me to a man that would have killed me if I'd stayed any longer.

My views about marriage though are why, ten years after leaving, I have not remarried. I have come close but I won't do it until I'm absolutely sure that I have a man worth spending the rest of my life with. And you know what? It won't matter if one or a million gay couples tie the knot by the time I get married again, the sanctity of my marriage won't be affected. I am not threatened by beliefs, views, and sexual orientations that differ from mine. I don't need strength of numbers to stick to my guns.

I also can't help but notice a trend. Anytime one group tries to make another group second class citizens they deny them things that should be theirs by right. Such as the old laws outlawing marriage for slaves. Slaves could not legally be married rather they had their own non-legal ceremonies. These ceremonies actually resembled handfastings. Many slaves even did things like jump a broomstick in their ceremonies. As cool as that is, it was a travesty that slaves were denied the right to marry. Wiccan and other pagan ceremonies used to not be recognized as legal either until Wicca gained status with the IRS as a bona fide religion. Until then people had to go to the justice of the peace at the court house and have a little mini ceremony there in order to be legally married.

I see the idea of "civil unions" as just a way to throw a bone to a group of people that the majority seeks to treat like dogs. Marriage is not the property of any one group, ethnicity or religion. So therefore no group, ethnicity or religion should have the right to define what marriage should be to others.

Phew! Rant done! Bet you all wish i would stop being shy and just come out and say how I really feel, lol.