I am an American. I was born in New York City and I believe that this Republic is one of the best forms of government that has ever come to pass on the face of the Earth. Let me start off by saying that I am a born again Christian, and I will not apologize for that. I was saved at the age of fourteen, regularly have attended church, and even listen to Christian Broadcasting every morning diligently. I believe that the Bible is the word of God and that it should be revered, and in most ways I am extremely conservative.

Those things being said, it might come across as surprising that someone of my religious and political inclinations would actually be in support of same-sex marriage. I did not come to this decision lightly, nor was a struck by a flash of inspiration and so-called open mindedness to come to my conclusion. I put careful consideration and deliberation into this argument, trying to get past the emotion and rhetoric that has been bounced around the political arena and have come to realize this truth; allowing same-sex marriage is the Christian thing to do.

Imagine if you would, that tomorrow the government tells a church that it is denied the right to perform weddings. That should not stand, right? But isn't that what we are doing to the number of Gay and Lesbian churches throughout our great nation.

What? But doesn't the Bible say that marriage is between a man and a woman?

Yes, that is what the Bible said. Every time that marriage is mentioned in the Bible it is always in the context of a man and a woman (or women in some old testament passages). I am not here to argue the Biblical definition of marriage though, but what an American Christian's attitude toward such should be.

One of the great things about our nations is the fact that we allow for religious freedom. We can worship, or chose not to worship, in many forms as long as it doesn't infringe on the rights of others. However, when it comes to the question of same sex marriage, that is exactly what we are doing. If, as a Christian, you view marriage as a God ordained institution, then by forbidding a class of society to participate is to infringe upon their religious freedom. By telling these couples that they cannot join in matrimony would be the same as telling a Jewish person they could not go to the temple or a Muslim not to go to mosque. Even though I do not hold the views of Jewish or Muslim people to conform to my beliefs, it would be considered unchristian for me to restrict their worship. In the same way, by forbidding same-sex couples from marrying, I am doing the exact same thing.

As a follower of Christ, I am not commanded to condemn but to love. I am not called to oppress, but to lift up. As a Christian I will not lead anyone to Christ by telling them that they are an abomination unworthy of salvation. It is only by our displays of love and acceptance that those who are in need of a savior can come to Jesus. But, by denying people basic rights, we are acting more like the Biblical Pharisees than we are behaving like Jesus.

That said. With the religious context out of the way, we get to the role of government in this whole debate. Should the government allow same-sex marriage? The answer is yes. The government has removed marriage from the arena of a religious right into a civil contract a long time ago. There are millions of marriages that are performed outside of the church and there is no debate that these marriages should be not valid. It would be against the civil liberties of millions if the government would deny a marriage based on religious affiliation. Can you imagine the uproar if a person went to a Justice of the Peace and was denied marriage because they were Episcopalian, or atheist.

By denying same-sex marriage, the government is denying a basic common freedom, that being the right to decide who we wish to spend our lives and grow old with. In essence, the government is imposing a sort of caste system and arranged marriage ritual on its citizenry. “You can and will marry only this subset of the population or not marry at all.” That reeks of the bigotry that exist when bi-racial couples marry and people scoff. We have come to the point where it is no longer shocking that a white man and a black woman marry, where not even the boldest Christian would get up in church and denounce such a union. But, we will attempt to stand on some moral high ground to impose our beliefs that one man should not marry another.

I also think it is important to mention, because I think it might be one of the fears that some churches have if same-sex unions are legalized, where I do not believe that we should deny same sex marriage, I think it is common sense that churches not be required to perform such ceremonies if it goes against their particular beliefs. If a church or any religious organization holds that marriage is the union between one man and one woman, then to be required to perform such a ceremony would be infringing on their beliefs. Nor should they be held liable for not performing them. If we are going to say that marriage is a religious institution, then telling a church how to implement it would fly in the face of the first amendment. However, if a Christian holds a public office that has as its duty the act of marrying people off, I think he must abide by the rules of that office and not his religious convictions. If he cannot perform all of his duties then he has the freedom to resign, but not the freedom to oppress. An out might be if he could find someone else to perform the ceremonies he cannot do himself.

I am an American and I am a Christian, what I think is great about both is that I can coexist with those whose opinions differ from mine. With the love of Christ, I hope and pray we can live in peace.