by Jeff Williams

You'll have to excuse me if I'm a little confused on the issues of DOMA and same-sex marriages.

You see, I was raised as a Catholic. And I was taught that there were seven Sacraments, of which marriage was one.

Which is why I am so confused you see. Why in the world would we need permission from the government to get married, when marriage is basically a religious ceremony?

Now, if a church chooses to perform a baptism on an individual who is homosexual, it is my opinion and it is my understanding that the government has no right to interfere with that ceremony, am I correct? Anybody can be baptized by any church who is willing to perform the ceremony. And the government doesn't have anything to do with it. Nor does the government have any power to deny the rights of ANY individual to participate in religious ceremonies, or the power to deny ANY church the right to perform those same ceremonies.

Now, recently, I heard that the Episcopalian church had begun to work on a religious ceremony for same-sex unions. So now, if a homosexual couple wanted to be married in the eyes of God, it would be blessed by an Episcopalian priest. And just as the government did not have any business telling a church who they could and who they could not baptise, then I don't see any reason why the government should be able to tell any church who they can and can not perform the ceremony of marriage on.

So where exactly does the government come into play here? I am a newlywed, and when the "big day" came for wife and myself, we were actually married twice. Once, in the eyes of God, we said 'I do' before the witness of a priest and the Lutheran church. Secondly, after that ceremony, (and in between a lot of pictures) we signed a legal contract that we then sent to the county government office.

The only thing that piece of paper said was that these two people have agreed to take on the legal responsibilities that went along with marriage. That piece of paper was nothing more than a legal contract between two people. It was not a promise to love each other, or to respect each other, or to bear children, or even to live under the same roof. The marriage contract is nothing more than another legal contract in the eyes of the government. That is why when one ends a marriage contract, it is done through the government. And just as the government is required to remain a neutral arbitrator in all other contracts, it must remain neutral in this contract. If two homosexuals can enter a contract together to start a business, then why should the government enforce any other kind of contract that those two people privately agree to enter into? Our government was never granted the power to DENY the rights of any individual to enter into a private legal contract with another individual.

It is not the job of the United States government to determine the worthiness of two people to marry. The only thing that is required of the government is that it recognize and arbitrate those private contracts made by its citizens. And it doesn't matter if MY church does not recognize same-sex marriages. It is irrelevant what I think about same-sex marriages. It is irrelevant whether or not I approve or my church approves of same-sex marriages. The only thing that matters is that the government remain neutral in its legal responsibilities between the private affairs of its citizens.

Well, maybe I'm not as confused about this issue as I thought that I was. Maybe its everybody ELSE that's confused.

Remember, Article VI of the United States Constitution states:
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

Opinions of the Dread Pirate