BeyondGenius.com

I came across the most fascinating argument against gay marriage yesterday. I, shockingly enough, found a group of people (a current state governor among them) who felt that same-sex marriage impinged upon their religious freedom. You read that correctly; after years of the argument ‘how exactly does gay marriage affect you?’ the religious right-ous have decided to argue that it affects them on a first amendment level. When pressed, the group’s argument is less about gay marriage in particular and more about the evils of living in a society in which homosexuality is open and acknowledged. A trio of pastors cited issues more like same-sex adoption and teaching children about homosexuality. But still, they cite gay marriage to be impinging upon their religious freedom.

I am forced to wonder how far one might attempt to take this argument, or logically could. If you accept the logic that by allowing two consenting adults in a committed relationship to use the world “marriage” is an infringement upon your freedom to practice religion as you see fit, then whole new worlds of discrimination are brought up!

For instance…I wonder if one could count the fact that many non-Jewish boys are circumcised today could be construed as impinging upon the rights of Jews to have a bris. Or if eating during the day this month impinges upon the rights of Muslims to practice Ramadan. Or if we can have an all out war about how to practice Sunday mass or argue over what one might call the celebrant of a non-Catholic Christian Sunday service – might Episcopals claim that Lutherans calling their celebrants “pastors” impinge upon their religious freedoms?

There are few times when I just break down and call an argument stupid: not illogical, not hysterical, not blinded by bias or poorly thought out. I draw the line in the sand here, folks. This idea that extending the term marriage beyond the current definition somehow damages YOUR right to practice religion freely just leaves me with no other terms: while it is illogical and hysterical and blinded by bias and poorly thought out, it’s also plain stupid.