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Our View: Yes to faster speeds, no to lane splitting ... Municipal officials object to proposed Oregon public records measure ... Mystery surrounds German POW art now in hands of Rogue Valley residents ... Our View: Yes to faster speeds, no to lane splitting ... Municipal officials object to proposed Oregon public records measure ... Jim Brock: Should government legalize gay marriage? Comment By Jim Brock, More Content Now MailTribune.com By Jim Brock, More Content Now Posted Oct. 24, 2014 at 11:45 AM By Jim Brock, More Content Now Posted Oct. 24, 2014 at 11:45 AM » Social News Should same-sex marriage be legal in all 50 states? No, because we don't need the government's help in choosing our partners. Legalizing same-sex marriage only lends credence to an old saying, "separate but equal." I laugh out loud when I hear Aaron Sorkin's quirky character Josh Lyman say, "I like you guys that want to reduce the size of government, make it just small enough so it can fit in our bedrooms." Maybe it's time to take a new route. One of my personal heroes, Dr. Tony Campolo, asserts that the government should get out of the marriage business. Campolo writes, "If marriage really is a sacred institution, then why is the government controlling it, especially in a nation that affirms separation of church and state? "… I propose that the government should get out of the business of marrying people and, instead, only give legal status to civil unions. The government should do this for both gay couples and straight couples, and leave marriage in the hands of the church and other religious entities." This makes a lot of sense to me. Churches want protection from the government, and I feel wholeheartedly that they should have it. Limiting a church's freedom is not definitive of America. We are a nation of laws – a nation with a First Amendment designed to protect the government from religious laws and the church from government control. That being said, the argument as to whether or not a marriage is legal based on gender is tenuous from a constitutional perspective, and everyone with a working knowledge of the law knows it. But politics is a fickle game. Take for example, the Defense of Marriage Act, which was signed into law in 1996. Under DOMA, individual states had the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages that might have been granted by other states. Section 3 of the Act was key in denying certain rights to same-sex couples. Its repeal in 2013 was a big win for civil rights. "… In striking down a key part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the court declared that gay couples married in states where it is legal must receive the same federal health, tax, Social Security and other benefits that heterosexual couples receive," wrote Robert Barnes in a June 2013 Washington Post report. "The ruling means that same-sex marriage is now sanctioned in 13 states and the District of Columbia — a list representing more than a third of the population of the United States." According to the report, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote that “DOMA writes inequality into the entire United States Code… The differentiation demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the Constitution protects . . . and whose relationship the State has sought to dignify.” As of today, 32 states in the U.S. have legalized gay marriage. That's great, but this is anachronistic garbage. There are a lot of people who feel their nuptials are threatened by gay marriage, and they voice that opposition in no uncertain terms. Some firmly believe that acts of homosexuality are the result of a mental illness, and this so-called perversion of nature can corrupt the sanctity of the family. Some still cling to the notion that those who engage in these acts are essentially giving God the finger – as if they have a choice. According to the American Psychological Association, more than 90 percent of people are married by age 50 in Western cultures. In the U.S., the divorce rate can be as high as 50 percent, and that rate is even higher for subsequent marriages. Among the myriad reasons for divorce – financial woes, infidelity, abuse, boredom, "falling out of love" – I don't think "a gay couple moved in next door" made the cut. In John 13:34-35 (NIV), Jesus says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." We have given God a level of capriciousness that I just don't understand. But as George Bernard Shaw once said, "God created man in his own image. And man… returned the favor." A lot of Americans don't believe in God anymore, and at the very least, a large percentage of us question the American nationalists' version Christianity - take what works for us and leave the rest. And we see what happens. So we pick back up in the Gospel of John, 14:7-9 "'If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.' Philip said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, Show us the Father?'" Jesus, who walked the Earth as an advocate for who we would view today as scum of the Earth, tells us, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." Jesus inquires in Matthew 7:4, "How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?" Maybe minding our own business would help mitigate our often inexplicable intolerance for one another. If each of us put serious effort into taking care of ourselves, would we finally be able to get along? Who knows – we've never tried it, because pointing the finger at everyone else keeps the attention away from our own shortcomings. Let's get the planks out of our own eyes, America. Ponder that! By Jim Brock, More Content Now MailTribune.com By Jim Brock, More Content Now Posted Oct. 24, 2014 at 11:45 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. 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