I Wonder... With the interest of keeping full disclosure in mind, this is just my thought process, and at a very early stage. I have an open mind and am willing to change it. Also, I did no research before writing this post, it is all stream of conscience and I am certain I have left important things out.
With all that is happening with marriage equality in the Supreme Court over the next few days, it is very interesting to be on a college campus taking in the different points of view. I don't pretend to be extremely knowledgable about the issue, nor do I pretend to know exactly how I feel, but what I do know is that all of America seems to be begging for a final and definite decision to be made about homosexual marriages.
Colleges tend to be an extremely liberal place, and the student population keeps that trend going. In a nation that is for and by the people, the youth are forever coming up with ways to challenge the system, and mold it to better fit the era's society and beliefs. This was the case with the Womens' Rights Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and many more. The country has seen incredible public speakers mesmerize audiences and persuade them to see a new perspective. The ambition and motivation that people here have is unlike anything else. Which leads me to the Marriage Equality Movement.
I personally hold the opinion that people should be able to marry people. Whether the relationship is heterosexual or homosexual, to be cliche, "love is love." Who am I to say that two people cannot get married just because they are the same gender? For that matter, who is anyone to say that? The only two responses that seem to come out of that second question are the Constitution and the Bible.
In response to the answer of the Constitution, I say that it is a document that can be interpreted in many different ways. It is a document that has been changed in the past with the addition of amendments, and it is a document that should continue to change in the present and future. It represents everything America stands for: the government for and by the people. And at this point in time, the people are speaking. The Marriage Equality Movement is speaking, and it is gathering support. If trends continue as they have with previous Rights movements, the movement is on track to accomplish its goals. The Constitution is an ever-changing document. The ideals are the same, but as people become more open to new things, it only makes sense that the Constitution should accept them (assuming they are not harmful or dangerous, and homosexual marriage is neither).
The Bible is a much more complicated answer. It is not a book that is meant to change with time, it is the set-in-stone beliefs that have been in places for many centuries. Jesus clearly defined marriage as between a man and a woman, and there is only one way to interpret that. People argue that gay marriage is a sin based on what the Bible says. I am no devout Christian, but I could tell you that, yeah, it probably is, based on what the Bible says. It says to "love thy neighbor" and to tolerate people, but if you tolerate people that are supposedly going against what Jesus said by being involved in a homosexual marriage, then you are sinning by accepting their sin. And supposedly it is better to suffer the anger and comments about ignorance from homosexuals than it is to suffer the wrath of God for tolerating sins and sinners.
To me, that is all a bit convoluted. I have always been taught to try to see God in my own way through my own experiences. That is how I interpreted sermons that were given at my church and what I believed my parents were trying to teach me (side note, I have no idea how my reverend or parents feel about gay marriage). But if everybody sees God in their own way, then why shouldn't I be allowed to be considered a Christian and support marriage equality? I feel as though loving thy neighbor is more important than following the belief that marriage should strictly be between a male and a female. To me, God is the idea of spreading love, and if love is between two males or two females, it should not matter; because it is still love.
Beyond that, not everybody in the United States is even religious. So many people would consider the whole religious side of the argument to be void.
Acceptance is something that both Americans and Christians say that they believe in, so the documentation should back that. I'm not saying to change either document, rather to interpret it so that acceptance is at the core.
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