Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry. -- Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1777), Thomas Jefferson
Follow the money is a term I have come to appreciate over the years, as a last resort it often explains the unexplained.
Take gay marriage for example. A lot of demagoguic energy is spent harping about gay marriage, but when it comes right down to it, there's no legal distinction to gay marriage that could not be achieved by civil contracts. I mean, people can enter into whatever contract they want with each other, and call it marriage if that's what they want to do. In fact, they have a lot more freedom to enter such a contract than non-gay people who have to get a license and find a preacher or a justice of the peace (not to mention the cake, the hall rental, and the dress)
So, what is the difference? Why would gay persons want to get married, when it is at face value a burdensome, ritualistic ceremony, signifying the traditions that so many gays badly want to have diminished if not eliminated.
I have no quarrel with whatever contract any two people want to enter into; whether marriage or the non-traditional equivalent. Go for it. I think 90-99% of people feel the same way. We're happy for you.
Oh, but simply letting people enter and exit relationships freely would not be sufficient. No, what the proponents of gay marriage want appears to be something else. This is where the money comes in. Proponents of gay marriage do not want marriage, so much as they want whatever perceived tax breaks and extended insurance coverage exist for traditional marriage .
So why didn't they say so? Insisting that this group or that hates gays and wants to discriminate against them misses the point entirely. There are not enough gay haters out there to have any kind of influence on the matter. So, what we are really talking about is special interests for tax breaks and family insurance plans.
To me, the solution is simple. It appears necessary to eliminate all implied financial incentives. No tax breaks, no automatic coverage for spouses, none of that. Once that is done, we won't have to listen to any more demagoggery on the subject, and there won't be any a reason for people to enter a relationship other than their love for each other. Call it tough love. But let's stop calling each other bigots and hate-mongers over something as obvious as this money trail.
