Having just watched Milk I’m left wondering what Harvey Milk would have to say about same-sex marriage. We could all probably have a good guess.
I wonder what he’d have to say about civil partnerships.
As far as gay rights are concerned, there’s no denying we’ve come a long way since Milk was elected into office in 1977 and subsequently assassinated in ‘78.
But even today, 33 years on, the rights of gay people are at the centre of debate as society, politicians, and the church fight over whether or not same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
On October 9, 2011, the BBC reported that the Archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti, had written to every parish in Scotland urging all Catholics to vote against the proposed gay marriage legislation, saying that the Scottish Government do not have the right to “reconstruct society on ideological grounds”.
But in today’s century, how big a role does religion really play in marriage? And what right does one religious organisation have to prevent a gay couple from wedding if they choose to do so, especially if it’s not in one of their churches?
The Oxford dictionary states that marriage is: “the formal union of a man and a woman, typically as recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife”. Fair enough, marriage is defined as the union of “a man and a woman”. But the original definition was written years ago, in the days where homosexuals all over the world, including the USA and Britain, were forced to hide who they really were through fear of not just being rejected by family and society, but because they would be subjected to mental and physical abuse. This, however, isn’t the part I’m most concerned with. What I really find interesting is, “as recognised by law”.
By law. Not by religion; not by Catholicism, not by Protestantism. Why then does the Archbishop of Scotland, or any other religious leader for that matter, think he has the authority to decide whether or not gay men and women should be allowed to marry?
It is at this point religious people from all corners of the country will perhaps start quoting passages from the bible in an outrage. Let’s examine the bible then, shall we?
Granted, the Holy Bible states that marriage is:
“The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life…”
So let’s take this literally and adhere to every little detail. This means we should take everything in the bible literally, right? Such as this:
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“Wives, [be in subjection] unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church…” (Ephesians 5:22)
This:
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“Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.” (1Peter 2:18)
And this:
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“Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest to Jehovah: whosoever doeth any work therein shall be put to death.” (Exodus 35:2)
It seems to me that these “rules” are more than a little out-dated. Britain abolished slavery in 1833, I know more people who work on a Sunday than rest (all of whom are granted permission to continue living, by-the-way), and you’d have drug me before I’d let any husband be my boss.
If we readily acknowledge that slavery is extinct and that 1Peter 2:18 is out of date and shouldn’t be taken literally, then we should equally acknowledge that nowadays gay people don’t just exist, but that they live, openly and freely – and that the bible’s definition of marriage is out of date and shouldn’t be taken literally. We acknowledge that homosexuals are no less human beings than heterosexuals, just as non-whites are no less human beings than whites, therefore gay people should not be discriminated against, or branded as being “not normal”.
Gay marriage, whether you’re for it or against it, what does religion have to do with it, really?
Fall for pretty strangers 
A friend suggested I watch this clip – you should too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhGk6eF65Fo
Love your use of biblical statements against the way we live today, everone who works Sundays should be put to death, or should ibe their employers, to whom they are slaves, who should be put to death as it is they who make them do it ??