THE SIMPLE SEED

I:n the seemingly endless debate on whether same sex marriages ought be legalized and recognized throughout our country, three words are notably absent.

First, let me say that marriage is not properly of government concern. It is an arrangement between two (or more) people that may or may not entail certain contractual obligations which, if there are any, ought be enforced legally as any other contractual obligations are. Otherwise, government, hands off!

But let us delve a bit further and look at the main arguments made against same sex marriages.

It is argued that being sexually attracted to a member of the same gender is not natural. That may be genetically true for most people but is obviously not true for others. For them, it is genetically natural. Secondly, in this vein, where is it written you must act in accordance with your nature? In fact, as you will see below, it is written that your right to act contrary to your nature is protected by the law.

It is argued that same sex marriages are immoral because the Bible says so. If what is written in the Bible determines morality and propriety, then those who use this argument would have to argue that slavery, stoning nonbelievers to death, treating women as second class citizens, requiring widows to marry their brothers in law, polygamy and prolific use of drugs are morally acceptable. Do they? Are they? Religious folk tend to want to make the Bible one of America's founding documents, but, sorry guys, it isn't.

It is argued that same sex marriages are not part of our culture. True, at the moment. But culture is malleable, not something rigid that must be adhered to. Our actions determine our culture, not the other way around. If we change our view of same sex marriages, our culture will change and they will become part of it, and that argument will be gone.

I said above that three words were missing from the argument. They are pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence refers to our unalienable right to pursue our own happiness... and the preamble to our Constitution speaks of the desire to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Read together, it is clear that one of the revolutionary pillars of the new culture that was being established is our individual freedom to pursue our happiness in ways that we choose, provided only that we do not deny the freedom of others to do the same.

Will being an architect or a merchant or a drifter make you happy? Go ahead, you choose. Want to live in Idaho or Nevada? Go ahead, you choose. Want to smoke even though it may be harmful to you? Your choice. Want to believe in God and the Bible? Your choice (though not necessarily mine). Want to enter into a same sex marriage? Your choice.

Want to know what makes America the wonderful country that it is? Simple. Our freedom to choose how we will pursue our happiness.