This argument has been nagging at me internally dying, to get out. With Amendment One passing in North Carolina recently, I think it's time to write out my argument to American Christendom, and implore them -- you, if you're a member of that group -- to drop their opposition to "gay marriage."
Here's the kernel of the argument: You should support the legalization of Gay Marriage because as an American citizen you are obliged to do so.
I take as my touchstone for the spirit of the American enterprise our very own Declaration of Independence -- historically, this document lays the foundation for our nation's reason for existing in the first place. The Declaration of Independence very clearly states the terms of our social contract in a few words:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Each American's basic contract with the government is this: we submit to its rules so that we may remain free to do as we please. The government's responsibility is to protect the context in which we may have "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Laws are instituted for this purpose, to protect these ends.
Here's where I think folks get mixed up -- the foundation of the law of the land is not about morality or virtue. Check out the last sentence in the quotation above. The authority of the government -- of the law itself -- does not come from its moral superiority, it comes from the consent of the people, and it has one purpose: to protect people's right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". We have laws against stealing, but not because stealing is wrong -- it's because stealing is depriving a fellow person of their "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" and that's what governments are supposed to protect. Same goes for the prohibition against murder. I'm not saying these things aren't wrong -- they are -- but the reason that they're illegal is that they're infringements upon a person's right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".
So it can be "moral" or it can be "immoral" for members of the same gender to marry, the law doesn't care. (Me? I think it's morally fine but that doesn't matter either.) What matters is this: by supporting laws that forbid Gay Marriage, you're violating people's right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", and trying to use the government to undermine its very own reason for being. And doing that you play a dangerous game, because next time... it might be YOUR "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" that a large group of people wants to infringe upon. That's the other side of the Social Contract -- we're all supposed to do our part to support the government in protecting "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." That sometimes means that you're going to have to support things you find distasteful or even... in violation of your own moral code. Why? Because that's the cost of freedom. You give it to others so that you may have it yourself. That's the fundamentally American Thing.
So don't screw this up. Keep gay marriage out of your church. Don't get gay married yourself. Keep believing that gay marriage is a moral abomination in the eyes of God, if you must. But don't try to pervert our government by forcing laws and constitutional amendments that deprive people of their right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". It's un-American.
