You have to admire those writers in the newspaper who are gifted with a wonderful way with words. For example, a recent essayist (M.D. Harmon, July 3) talks about the Supreme Court “imposing same-sex marriage” on the country.
That phrase raises the specter of gay people being forced to marry and married heterosexuals being forced to divorce and marry someone of their own sex. The phrase is much more powerful than “allowing same-sex marriage,” though that is closer to what the court did.
More problematic, however, is the claim at the end of the same essay that this ruling tramples on the religious liberties of millions of Americans. We might first ask what religion has to do with sexual behavior. What is the connection between sex and God? Is there a list somewhere of the sexual practices that are pleasing to God and rank as acts of worship, whereas others do not?
Of course, those opposed to same-sex marriage will say, “Look at the Bible.” Support for marriage in the Bible? Far from it. In fact, Saint Paul, who never married, says it’s better not to get married at all; stay single.
Adam and Eve were not married. We’re not told Mary and Joseph were either. Abraham passed his wife off as his sister and let her join the harem of King Abimelech.
David, who loved Jonathan more than any woman, arranged for the death of Uriah so he could marry Bathsheba, and his first wife was cursed with barrenness when she complained that David exposed himself, dancing before the serving girls. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Jesus never married.
The only wedding that gets attention in the Bible is the marriage at Cana, but the story centers on Jesus’s catering skills; the happy couple is not even mentioned.
Gay marriage is said to be a threat to such traditional marriages, but how or why is never explained.
Churches have latched onto sexual behavior simply because, whatever form it takes, they can make people feel guilty and, by so doing, assert authority over them.
So objectors to same-sex marriage will have to come up with better arguments to justify an attitude that is based merely on their antipathy toward behavior they find distasteful.
Of course, gay people in this country have always been free to marry. Just not to each other. Now that doesn’t seem fair, does it?
David Mills, of Waterville, has been a member of the English Department at Colby College for 30 years.
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