Another Blow to Freedom
The freedom which Americans are supposed to enjoy, that which so many Americans have died for since the country’s birth, has taken another blow. This time, it wasn’t from the Bush Administration. Instead, it was from New York’s highest court, which ruled against same-sex marriage in that state.
It wasn’t enough for them to rule against it, though. Judge Robert S. Smith insulted every gay couple that is currently raising a child:
“Intuition and experience suggest that a child benefits from having before his or her eyes, every day, living models of what both a man and a woman are like,” Judge Robert S. Smith wrote in his decision.
When are people going to realize that no matter how much they rant and rave about the sanctity of marriage and family values, gay couples will continue to live together and raise children? Making homosexual marriage illegal changes nothing. What it does do is prevent those couples from gaining the same benefits heterosexual couples have in marriage. Every argument that gay marriage opponents present is based on the premise that homosexual marriage is bad for society. But marriage in today’s world is nothing more than a legal state. With or without the marriage license, the couples still have the right to live together and raise children. They are still there, displaying themselves to everyone. What do opponents of gay marriage have to gain from their opposition? Absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, the gay couples affected by decisions like this have a lot to lose.
I can think of nothing more pathetic than reactions like the following:
The Rev. Tom Stiles, a spokesman for New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a Christian lobbying group, said the thousands of religious leaders and lay people on their e-mail alert list were thrilled by the ruling.
“There’s a sense of relief and joy,” he said, speaking from the group’s offices in Rochester. If the decision had gone the other way, he said the organization had been prepared to prod the Legislature to pass a measure invalidating same-sex marriage. Still, he said today’s ruling did not mean the group could let its guard down.
“This phase of the battle is over, but the war is still going on,” he said. “The other side will regroup and put pressure on the Legislature, and we’ll be ready to push back.”
I thought Christians were supposed to be tolerant (I know, I know, they have historically demonstrated that they are anything but). Yet, here we have a guy who is delighting in tormenting others. He feels joy at the suffering of his fellow humans. And he is supposed to be representing a group that protects constitutional freedoms. Does he not see the paradoxes? A Christian doling out pain, suffering, and intolerance. A defender of freedom fighting to deny freedom to others. What a model citizen he is.
The (not so) good Reverend Smith is a prime example of what is wrong with America today. We accuse Muslims of intolerance, yet at home we are just as ignorant and intolerant as ever. We want to impose freedom on the rest of the world, yet at home we are happy to deny it of those whose lifestyles we disagree with. What a wonderful example this sets for the rest of the world. Forget gay marriage. The rest of us are doing more damage to family values than a homosexual couple ever could.