Rights of the People, For the People ... Well, Some of Them

It has been well established that I work in a bar. It is also well established that the election is nearing, including not just a run of politicians trying to save their jobs or trying to get a job, but also for an amendment or two. One, it could be said, is religiously charged. Anyone who has ever worked in a bar setting should know one of the biggest rules of; Never talk politics or religion around drinkers. Once again it has been established that rules do not mean all that much to me.

So, this has become a hotbed around the water cooler, the watering trough, and here on Patch. In truth it has been for a while now. So again I am going to spend my two cents worth. And to be honest, I don’t even know why. In truth the “Marriage” amendment has absolutely no bearing on my life. I don’t want to marry another man. Heck, I don’t want to get married at all. I certainly don’t want children and I am even on the fence about having a pet!

But it irks me. It irks me deep inside. Granted, there is the element of the homosexuality involved. I grew up with homosexuals. My brother was a homosexual. God forbid anyone say anything bad about that, or I may have to go to jail for a while. See, I can pick on my brother. Nobody else can.

For the moment, however, let us take that (mostly) out of the equation. Let’s start out with “Rights”. There was a gentleman on the Patch Comments (I wish I could remember his name, and I had completely opposite views as him, but he made a good debate about it without getting nasty. He even swayed me on one point.) It is not about “Rights”. Mainly, because the right is not being infringed. A Homosexual has the same exact rights as a heterosexual. In order for it to be a rights issue it would have to be heterosexuals have the right to marry a same sex partner, but homosexuals do not.

Now, that being said, as soon as you place it in the constitution (State or Federal) it most definitely becomes a “rights” issue. Because the a constitution is THE document that defines our rights and offers an absolute. It than offers up the precedent that anything else is wrong. Now it becomes a “Rights” issue, because you are saying anything else is wrong. Besides, now you have given us a reason to truly rise up and demand our "rights" if it goes into the contitution.

Convoluted? I agree. Also another problem with this amendment.

My next point is, technically it is illegal for same sex marriage in Minnesota. Does adding it as an amendment make it more illegal? No! It makes it so we cannot come back from it though. It means we cannot grow from it. It means as a state level society, we have given up the ghost. That as a state, we as people have stopped growing. Sad really. Minnesota nice is replaced with Minnesota nice, unless your gay or don’t believe in God, or hate lutefisk.

And there is the big (And I mean DAMN big) elephant in the room Religion. Most of our amendments and laws (State as well as Federal) are based of religious text and/or subtext. It is impossible to remove the two. However, in the eyes of the law they are separate. Therefore, in entering into a legal contract recognized by the State, where in any law text does God enter in? The state as well as the church can stay out of my bedroom. Hence why on a semi-regular basis I ignore a couple of the laws on the books about my bedroom. (Wink, wink… look them up yourself.)

Tied to this is the traditional marriage. WHAT?!? There has never been a traditional marriage. It has evolved more and faster than humans. Traditional marriage was once for land rights. It was also once tradition to have more than one spouse. For a bit it was tradition to marry a sibling or relative. It was tradition to not marry outside of your race. It has been used as a political tool, a religious tool, and as a business tool. Isn’t it about time it is changed to be used for what it really should be? For those who love one another. Man or woman, woman or woman, or man or man.

Oh, and before I get off my soap box, the dumbest argument yet is that marriage is for procreation. So if I get married and we don’t have kids, does my marriage not count? If I don’t get married and I have a child, will I go to jail? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

So what does this all mean? Absolutely nothing. Why? Because you reading this is not going to change your mind, and nothing you say to me is going to change mine. I know what I believe. I guess the biggest question is, deep down… do you?