Thursday, 25 August 2016

Same sex marriage



I believe saying ‘no’ to same-sex marriage is a way of showing love, not rejection. Here’s why: 
1.      It is not unloving to tell the truth about marriage. Marriage is clearly different to a same-sex relationship – for reasons of biology, sociology and anthropology. To call them the same thing is to deny the truth. As Aristotle said, “The worst form of inequality is to try and make unequal things equal.”
Marriage is not clearly different. A same-sex relationship is the same as an opposite sex relationship.  Marriage is the recognition of a relationship, it is not the relationship.  Same sex unions have their place in history and they are being accepted by society today.
2.      It is not unloving to put the rights of children first. As a society we see it as a tragedy when, due to events like desertion or death, a child misses out on the love and care of both their mum and dad. For a government to make a law that mandates this loss is not putting the rights of the child first. It is loving to ensure, where possible, every child is raised by their mother and father.
Same sex marriage does not mandate the loss of anything the same way marriage currently does not.  There is no mention of children or procreation in the Marriage Act.  The “where possible” clause is broad. Broad enough to include same sex parents.
3.      It is not unloving to fully consider the consequences of an action before taking it. Atheist columnist Brendan O’Neill warns, “everywhere gay marriage has been introduced it has battered freedom, not boosted it”. Whether it is freedom of conscience, speech or freedom for parents to remove their children from ‘sexual diversity-celebrating’ sex education classes, all have been further restricted to some degree in countries that have redefined marriage.
Freedom to not accept the situation for what it is.  Exactly what same sex advocates are being accused of.