I have not been able to find any report of a senator or member of Congress explaining their opposition to marriage equality other than that it is not “biblical” and therefore is against the will of God. In other words, if you ask them to justify their opposition to gay people having the same rights to marital partnership as straight people without reference to religion, they have nothing to say, period. Simply put, they have no opinion of their own about the matter they will express; only God has an opinion and they are confident they speak for him.
Support for same-sex marriage is rapidly growing across the country. Republicans are pretty much split 50/50 on the issue which has the support of over 80% of Democrats. Majorities of most religious groups also support it with evangelical Protestants and Latter-day Saints lagging. But it doesn’t matter what the majority thinks or wants if your opinion comes directly from God, does it?
The bill that was just passed explicitly states that it does not affect religious liberties and protections under the Constitution and does not require any religious organization to provide goods or services in celebration of a marriage of which it disapproves. But this isn’t enough for those who seek to deny marriage to same-sex folks.
As Representative Bob Good, Republican of Virginia said, “This bill certainly disrespects God’s definition of marriage,” Mr. Good said, “and his definition is the only one that really matters.”
Here’s how it works in reality. A person harbors their personal sense of morality. They then project that onto their image of God and mentally reverse the transaction claiming that their own idea is divine.
Here is a sampling of what the Bible actually says about marriage.
Marriage shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5.)
Marriage shall not impede a man’s right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)
A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)
Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)
Since marriage is for life, neither the Constitution nor any state law of shall permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9-12)
If a married man dies without children, his brother must marry the widow. If the brother refuses to marry the widow, or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)
In lieu of marriage (if there are no acceptable men to be found), woman shall get her father drunk and have sex with him. (Gen 19:31-36)
Of course, none of the self-righteous Senators and Representatives who will provide no other reason for opposing same-sex marriage other than its supposed biblical endorsement supports any of these scriptural examples.
A “bigot” is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices claiming them as absolute truth, especially one who exhibits intolerance and animosity toward members of a group. Bigotry may be directed towards those of a differing sex or sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, region, language, religious or spiritual belief, political alignment, age, economic status or medical disability.
Legend has it that the first Duke of Normandy refused to kiss the foot of the French king Charles III, uttering the phrase bi got, borrowing the Old English equivalent of our expression by God. Bigot was used by the French for the Beguines, members of a Roman Catholic lay sisterhood. Frome the 15th century on Old French bigot meant “an excessively devoted or hypocritical person.” Bigot is first recorded in English in 1598 meaning “a superstitious hypocrite.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour into it, the more it will contract.”
Psychologist Rollo May said: “Tenderness emerges from the fact that the two persons, longing, as all individuals do, to overcome the separateness and isolation to which we are all heir because we are individuals, can participate in a relationship that, for the moment, is not of two isolated selves but a union.”
If you deny this to some of your fellow citizens, and provide no justification other than self-righteous hypocrisy, there is a word for you.
Basically, Republicans opposed the bill that just passed both houses of Congress because it doesn’t offer strong enough protections for bigots.
Harsh words? Not really. Just accurate. Denying the right to marry one’s beloved; now that’s harsh.
Jonathan Klate lives in Amherst and writes about spirituality, political ideology, and the relationship between these two.