The US Supreme Court is currently considering cases regarding a touchy, emotive subject. Namely the question of the veracity of same-sex marriage.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I don\u2019t do well when I\u2019m troubled by thoughts of injustice, and this subject is rampant with such thoughts.<\/p>\n
Until relatively recently, my view was that the word \u201cmarriage<\/em><\/strong>\u201d should be reserved for the specific union between a man and a woman.\u00a0 {For those interested in my change of heart, my post, \u201cMarriage, \u00a0a word\u2019s meaning<\/a>\u201d provides a little background.}<\/p>\n Why did I change my mind?\u00a0 Because of prompting from my youngest daughter {thirteen at the time}, who expressed shock I could be opposed to same-sex couples.\u00a0 I corrected her by stating I had never held that bigoted viewpoint, then went on to explain that we were talking about the meaning of a root word, namely marriage.<\/p>\n Though I wish I could remember Julia\u2019s exact words, I cannot, so here\u2019s the gist of how she prompted my change of heart, \u201cThat doesn\u2019t make sense, dad.\u00a0 Words change their meaning all the time.\u00a0 Just because people in the past were ignorant and had the wrong ideas doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re stuck with what they thought<\/strong> something meant.\u00a0 I think marriage is for couples who love each other and intend to be with each other forever.\u00a0 What do you think?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n How is it that the young see the truth of things so clearly?\u00a0 Perhaps it is because they haven’t yet been trained to the biases of whatever society they dwell in?<\/p>\n What could I do but agree?\u00a0 Julia\u2019s definition of \u201cmarriage\u201d cuts to the heart of the matter.\u00a0 Marriage is not about sex, or about gender.\u00a0 Marriage, is about commitment.\u00a0 No one, neither individual or government, has the right to deny any committed couple their chance at the permanent bond of marriage.<\/p>\n So, since I\u2019ve come to terms with my change of heart, why am I troubled by thoughts of injustice? \u00a0Simple.\u00a0 Because I fear the US Supreme Court is about to allow a massive, long running injustice go unaddressed… or at best inadequately addressed.<\/p>\n Sadly, the USA seems to be a country where the courts are less concerned with justice than they are in following the letter of flawed laws. \u00a0In reflecting on the technicalities of the matter of same-sex marriage, Justice Sonia Sotomayor seems to be following that precedent. \u00a0She asked this question, \u201cIf the issue is letting the states experiment and letting the society have more time to figure out its direction, why is taking a case now the answer?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Allow me, a gravely troubled citizen, to answer that question.\u00a0 Because everyone deserves equal access to justice now<\/strong>, not at some unspecified time in the future.<\/em><\/p>\n Many of the original European immigrants came to America to escape religious persecution.\u00a0 Limiting marriage benefits and responsibility exclusively to heterosexual couples has no basis other than religious or politically motivated dogma.\u00a0 How has this country been so sorely turned about that where it once held separation of Church and State as sacrosanct, it now seeks to entrench religious persecution into law<\/strong>?<\/p>\n I don’t do well when I’m troubled by thoughts of injustice\u2026\u00a0 Withholding access to marriage equality from any committed couple, regardless of gender, is injustice.\u00a0 As a strictly heterosexual male already past my silver wedding anniversary, and looking forward to my gold, I can only imagine how same sex couples denied access to equal rights feel.<\/p>\n That very imagining troubles me.<\/p>\n Same-sex couples are victims of persecution, oppression, and injustice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That needs to end, and it needs to end now<\/strong>, not at some other undetermined time in the future.<\/p>\n