This is for the ATRLers who still believe in traditional marriage. Know that you are NOT ALONE!
#ATRL4TraditionalMarriage
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I admire and respect the LGBT community and its supporters for fighting a very long, very difficult battle for something they believed in. This country was founded by people getting together and standing up for a worthy cause. The LGBT community has suffered hate, oppression, and violence to an extreme far beyond acceptable limits. Congratulations, I'm happy for your win! It's a huge step for the country as a whole.
As a member of a minority which suffered similar persecutions and continues to (see: Charleston Shooting), I believe the Declaration of Independence when it states that every individual has a right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of their own Happiness.
However, this does not change my view on what marriage is. I guess we could see it as a separation of civil and religious marriages. Every civil marriage; be it gay, lesbian, heterosexual, or anything else, ends at death. Only marriage between a man and a woman will last through all eternity; that is what God has established. That said, I respect the right of others to marry who they wish on this earth.
I do however, ask that complete respect be given toward my viewpoint and toward anyone that shares it.
With all due respect, I've never understood the portrayal of marriage as something that any deity "created" or "established," whether as between a man and a woman or otherwise. Anthropological and historical evidence indicates that "marriage" and identical constructs have existed since before recorded history and throughout almost all cultures, both religious and comparatively secular. Many religious people indignantly claim that marriage is being "redefined" by this court decision, but the reality is that they had been defining it improperly within their own lexicon for centuries. Marriage has no natural or default "orientation" and it never has, that's an idea that has been forced around the institution by people who feel they are morally right or led by a religion.
So, while I'll respect the fact that people have different beliefs about what a marriage should be as dictated by their God or religion, I don't think it's appropriate for religious folk to essentially act as though they own an institution that has been around longer than their religion. More appropriate would be to hold the view that people who follow that religion should not practice marriage if they are not heterosexual, rather than making it about anyone else. There shouldn't be a broad "marriage is between ______ and ______" statements coming from religious groups, because their moral authority is limited to their own boundaries; there should be statements like "I believe that anyone who follows God [in the same way as myself] should define marriage as between a man and a woman." What a religious person thinks of me with regard to their own religion is irrelevant to me if I do not share that exact same religion; it should not be a point of contention between us, and they should in turn respect the fact that I believe and practice an entirely different set of things.
These people keep thinking they're clever when they try time and time again to equate intolerance toward homophobia with intolerance toward gays and it's just embarrassing every time.
"wow you guys preach love and acceptance but you guys aren't so loving and accepting of my BIGOTRY"
"I don't hate gay people, I just don't think they should have rights!"
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