http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/14/justice/oklahoma-gay-marriage/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
(CNN) -- A federal judge ruled Tuesday that an
Oklahoma law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples violates the U.S.
Constitution, giving yet another victory to same-sex marriage
supporters.
Gay marriage has been in the media a lot lately - it has been allowed in some countries and banned in others. Essentially it seems like peoples' issue with gay marriage (and homosexuality in general) stems primarily from their religious beliefs that homosexuality goes against God and nature (nature being God's creation.
Some parts of religions are truly good, while others are simply cruel and abusive. Religion has been the cause (or excuse) for most of the conflicts and brutality in history - does that not indicate that some parts of religion are simply unacceptable?
The whole thing seems to be rather like a double-edged blade: religion brings out the best and the worst in humanity - but also our approach to issues like gay marriage in general is rather hypocritical. Countries calling out for the fulfillment of human rights contradict themselves by disallowing things like gay marriage; countries chastising the abuse of human rights from another country are abusing some other human rights themselves. We just can't seem to choose a set direction to go in - everything we do forms a part of fulfilling our own conveniences.
Is a country that discriminates against certain individuals really in a position to punish another country for doing the same? It seems that the truth (the facts) is not what is important in this world - what is important is how the media spins the story, which will be according to who is paying them.
I am not a religious person. I am a practical person. I look at the world without bias and without opinions. I look at things and see for myself what is good and what is usable and I test it out in my own life. If something turns out not to be what it initially appeared to be then I will re-assess. When I consider something like two peoples' choice to walk this life together it makes no difference what race or gender they are - even if their choice seems foreign or unusual to me. God doesn't come into this. As far as I can see, God - if there ever was one - has abandoned us. No creator would leave their creation to do the things we have done. Religion is now simply a matter of opinion. Religious texts are cryptic and contradictory. The Bible was written centuries after Jesus was alive - how many families know anything about their own ancestry who lived so many years ago? We all know how easy it is to change a story over time, bit by bit, even if it is unintentional.
We need to get our priorities straight - but first we need to get our starting points clear. We cannot walk into the world thinking that things are only this way or that - it is never that simple. We cannot walk into the world having already formed certain opinions without any real understanding of the matters.
(CNN) -- A federal judge ruled Tuesday that an
Oklahoma law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples violates the U.S.
Constitution, giving yet another victory to same-sex marriage
supporters.
U.S. District Court Judge
Terence Kern said the court would not immediately enforce this ruling
-- therefore not opening the doors right away to marriages of gay and
lesbian couples in Oklahoma -- pending appeals. Still, he delivered a
clear opinion on how the voter-approved Oklahoma state constitutional
amendment relates to the U.S. Constitution.
"The Court holds that
Oklahoma's constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex
couples violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
of the U.S. Constitution," the judge wrote, saying that protection "is
at the very heart of our legal system."
His decision specifically
deals with "Part A" of an Oklahoma Constitutional amendment that says,
in part, "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one
man and one woman."
Gay marriage has been in the media a lot lately - it has been allowed in some countries and banned in others. Essentially it seems like peoples' issue with gay marriage (and homosexuality in general) stems primarily from their religious beliefs that homosexuality goes against God and nature (nature being God's creation.
Some parts of religions are truly good, while others are simply cruel and abusive. Religion has been the cause (or excuse) for most of the conflicts and brutality in history - does that not indicate that some parts of religion are simply unacceptable?
The whole thing seems to be rather like a double-edged blade: religion brings out the best and the worst in humanity - but also our approach to issues like gay marriage in general is rather hypocritical. Countries calling out for the fulfillment of human rights contradict themselves by disallowing things like gay marriage; countries chastising the abuse of human rights from another country are abusing some other human rights themselves. We just can't seem to choose a set direction to go in - everything we do forms a part of fulfilling our own conveniences.
Is a country that discriminates against certain individuals really in a position to punish another country for doing the same? It seems that the truth (the facts) is not what is important in this world - what is important is how the media spins the story, which will be according to who is paying them.
I am not a religious person. I am a practical person. I look at the world without bias and without opinions. I look at things and see for myself what is good and what is usable and I test it out in my own life. If something turns out not to be what it initially appeared to be then I will re-assess. When I consider something like two peoples' choice to walk this life together it makes no difference what race or gender they are - even if their choice seems foreign or unusual to me. God doesn't come into this. As far as I can see, God - if there ever was one - has abandoned us. No creator would leave their creation to do the things we have done. Religion is now simply a matter of opinion. Religious texts are cryptic and contradictory. The Bible was written centuries after Jesus was alive - how many families know anything about their own ancestry who lived so many years ago? We all know how easy it is to change a story over time, bit by bit, even if it is unintentional.
We need to get our priorities straight - but first we need to get our starting points clear. We cannot walk into the world thinking that things are only this way or that - it is never that simple. We cannot walk into the world having already formed certain opinions without any real understanding of the matters.
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