MARRIAGES are rituals. So are baptisms and funerals.
Yes these are private, and not govt business to dictate.
Marriages are religious rituals for some, for many others they are a secular matter, or some combination of both. BUT....That is not what we were discussing. YOU said the being LGBT is a religious ritual. It was stupid and you know- or at least I hope you do- it so now you're moving the goal posts and making it about marriage
Dear
TheProgressivePatriot
What I find to be NEUTRAL is civil unions and legal contracts, void of any mention of the SOCIAL relations
between the partners to a contract.
Anyone can run a business as partners, a household or LLC,
or manage custody or estates as purely a secular arrangement where they have legal authority in decisions.
However, the minute you ADD in the social relationship of marriage,
that introduces SOCIAL and PERSONAL relations that are not the business of govt.
So that's where I draw the line with secular.
Even using the word "marriage" invokes religious meaning
to other people in the public besides just you! if the whole
public has a say in the laws, then those objections count, too.
Just like using the word "creation" in a public school textbook, you have the right to object
even if to someone else that's just another standard term.
You may not have an issue with marriage used for secular civil contexts.
But given the reaction this has caused, even my boyfriend who is NOT Christian
and NOT religious, refuses this "change in definition" of "marriage"
and doesn't BELIEVE in the laws written and using that term for same sex partnerships.
Whether you call this religious or secular,
TheProgressivePatriot
people have the right to CONSENT to laws that represent the public whether locally, statewide or nationally.
When it comes to beliefs, I find the only way to reach CONSENT
is to mediate and write the laws by consensus so everyone CONSENTS equally.
With laws that DON'T INVOLVE BELIEFS (like how much to spend
on highways) people ARE willing to "consent to majority rule" and the process for govt to create amend and enforce laws.
But for issues involving BELIEFS they do NOT CONSENT to have GOVT decide these things.
So that's another big warning sign that beliefs are involved.
The major key issues I have found (that can't be forced by govt without imposing on people's beliefs) include:
the death penalty, abortion, euthanasia, marriage laws, school policies on sex education creation evolution prayer
(and now LGBT) and some immigration issues that involve beliefs about native jurisdiction and birthright.
Right to health care surfaced as a political belief later, as did the Global Warming debate.
Right to vote and gun rights also carry more symbolic/religious meaning than just the literal laws,
so that becomes politically religious, and drug laws also involve political beliefs that people don't agree on forcing through govt.
Since I believe in respecting all people's free choice, consent and beliefs equally in the mediation process,
in order to reach a consensus by agreeing on points or by separating instead of imposing on each other,
I would apply the same conflict resolution process to any situation, to make sure nobody's beliefs are violated.
If a policy or solution really represents the best interest of the people, it would have support of those people
it is supposed to protect and include equally. So if someone is left out, still protesting, how can I say that law
reflects consent of the governed? The way I know that it represents the public, there should be general agreement on law,
as there is universal respect for the First Amendment, and also the Code of Ethics for Govt Service was passed UNANIMOUSLY by Congress in 1980. If you read those 10 principles, those are well written as general standards.
www.ethics-commission.net