Monday, November 18, 2013
A Manufactured Right
Someone said that same sex marriage was a manufactured civil right. I wonder. I think saying that anyone has the right to be married is a manufactured right. Not everyone has the talent to be married. I suspect that maybe about half the population has any clue, but they get married anyway. I don't know that marriage is a right. I think it is more of a talent, a gift, a maturity, and one can have this regardless of sexual orientation. If half the boy/girl relationships break up, but less of the same sex ones do, then marriage might not be about rights at all. I don't have the right to play professional football. It would be a disaster for me to do this. It is a bad fit. I think that I am a priest because I have a gift, a talent, but not a right. For many, marriage is like me trying to play professional football. A disaster.
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The one word marriage is used for three different contexts of living together and building a family. One context is that of cohabitation and is done by mutual agreement of the couple without any outside acknowledgement. The second context is living together and family building with civil rights and responsibilities. That is marriage acknowledged by the government. The third is marriage blessed by sacred community, and that is marriage in a church or worship community.
ReplyDeleteBeing born doesn't mean knowing how to live. It is something that grows and changes every day. So too is marriage. The most important part of marriage is commitment to sticking it out through thick and thin. All forms of marriage share this. The sexuality of the marriage partnership has little bearing on the ability to commit. That is more a function of good character. Hopefully our sacred communities will strengthen us so that we are of good character.
Amen!
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