Why Marriage Equality is Important to Me

Warning: I am about to go all political and spiritual on you. I tend to stay away from these kinds of topics on my blog, but I just need to say a few things. Obviously, this is just my opinion, but I feel strongly about this. If there is one thing I care about in this world, it's human rights. I haven't done as much as I should to defend people whose rights have been oppressed. I wrote letters in my high school Amnesty International club, but I haven't done much since. The least I can do is write this.

To me, marriage equality is not about labels, but about basic human rights. Call them partners, husbands, wives, whatever, but I think if two people love each other and want to live together and support each other, and be a family together, they should be able to do so. They should have all the resources and rights that any other couple has. And regarding the debate about whether these couples should be able to adopt: I'm sure most orphans will take any couple who is willing to love and support them.

Going beyond what I think and feel, and being the spiritual person that I am, I have to wonder: what would Jesus think? Well, I believe Jesus' teachings support this sort of equality, for everyone. He tells us that He is bringing a "new covenant" that will be ruled by the Spirit and not outdated laws (2 Corinthians 3:6-8, Hebrews 9:13-15). This is why He died for us (Happy Easter!). He tells us that as long as we love others, we are fulfilling His law (Romans 13:10), that you can't say you love God and not love people (1 John 4:20), and that the most important commandment is to love God and other people (Mark 12:28-31). If we believe God made us all, how can we say that any of us are insignificant?  I think that insults Him. He makes us all as we are supposed to be, and He loves us ALL.  It bothers me most of all that Christians speak out against this sort of equality, because we should be the ones promoting it, as well as promoting God's love. The church shouldn't be in the guilt and judgement business. We should be there to support others, no matter who they are. Life is hard; we need each other.

I can see how homosexuality was probably discouraged in ancient times, because it didn't promote procreation, and that was needed back then. However, this isn't an issue anymore. Just like the Old Testament law against eating shellfish. Although, God saw to it that I follow that one, by giving me an allergy to it. ;)

Anyway, that's enough from my soap box for tonight. Just one more thing: There is way too much hate and fear in this world. For once, let's let love win.