The SCOTUS ruling proclaiming same-sex marriage legal in all of the United States has caused quite a stir among the conservative Christian community. I have seen a few posts showcasing some of the conservative Christian responses to the SCOTUS ruling. So, without further ado, here are an LGBTQIA+ woman's responses to the Conservative Christian marriage equality panic.
1. Your freedom of religion is not "under attack." No one is forcing pastors to hire LGBTQIA+ people, no one is forcing pastors to officiate same-sex weddings and no one is forcing Christians to attend same-sex weddings. Your right to believe what you believe has not been taken away. You can continue to believe whatever it is you believe. If you don't think that same-sex couples should marry, that's fine and dandy. But that doesn't mean you can keep it from becoming law, which leads me to the next point.
2. The United States is not a Theocracy. This country is not a church. This country is not a bible camp. This country is a country. Believe it or not, the "Founding Fathers" of this country did not set out here to establish a "Christian nation." Quite the contrary, in fact. The United States of America was founded on the principles of reason, not faith. This country was founded out of a strong desire for freedom, which, like it or not, actually means freedom for everyone, not just you. Not everyone is a Christian. That is kind of the whole point of religious freedom protections in the First Amendment, which states that establishment of a national religion is forbidden. By demanding that the U.S. follow the "laws of God," you are, in fact, violating the First Amendment and infringing upon other non-Christian Americans' rights.
3. There is no such thing as "traditional marriage." Since the institution of marriage has been around far longer than Christianity, I feel the first and most obvious point to note here is that marriage does not belong to Christianity. What's more, when we take a look at history, it is quite clear that marriage did not begin as a a voluntary act of devotion and love between one man and one woman. To focus for a moment on the religious text that "traditional marriage" proponents so often use to defend their position, it is important to note that even the Bible itself does not clearly establish one true definition of marriage. The bible gives several varying definitions of marriage, including polygamy, the union of a rapist and his victim, as well as giving the husband the go-ahead to have his wife stoned if she cannot prove her virginity. Not to mention, the most common biblical "family unit" is a polygamous one. So, to try to use the Bible to give us one clear definition of marriage is, quite frankly, pointless.
Marriage has been around for so long that to try and pinpoint the specific time and place that it began would be impossible. However, it is safe to say that for a long time, marriage was about property, ownership and practicality. It was an arranged, legally binding contract in which the participants had little say. It was not until recent years that marriage became focused more on love than on legal contracts and practicality. However, even today, the concept of marriage for love is vastly different within various cultures. Furthermore, there are still many cultures whose understandings of marriage means something other than one man and one woman (polygamy, polyandry, etc.).
No matter the specifics, it is certain that marriage always has been, and always will be, an evolving entity. This step to bring LGBTQIA+ relationships into the fold is just one more step in that evolution. I can assure you, it will not dismantle all of modern society. (I can also assure you that the probability of same-sex marriage opening the doors for marriages of beastiality and pedophilia is slim to none. There's a big piece missing there, called consent.)
4. God is not going to "send judgment" upon the United States because of this ruling. This concept that God will send judgment upon a nation because of its wickedness (plucked straight from the tales of the Old Testament and packaged nicely with a big, flashy, fear-mongering bow), only works if you actually apply it to all of reality. In case you had forgotten, the United States is not the only place that exists. According to the typical Christian belief, God created the entire world, and therefore, I am assuming, God would judge the entire world -- not just the U.S.
Since Germany was not consumed by a lake of fire after the Holocaust, and all of the U.S. was not wiped out after the abhorrent disgrace that was slavery, I think it's safe to say that the U.S. is not going to be swallowed up into a black hole of despair because I can now marry my girlfriend in any one of the 50 states.
5. If you continue to shut people out, your churches will die. For most people, rejection hurts. When one is turned away for something that is a very part of their nature, that hurt is increased tenfold. Now, most pastors and church members I have talked with have said, "We do not turn anyone away from our church! Our doors are always open to gay people." Let me let you all in on a little secret. Just because you do not physically turn LGBTQIA+ people away from your churches does not mean you aren't turning them away. Let me tell you from personal experience that being told that you "love me," but then immediately following that with aggressive "suggestions" on how I can "ward off my sexual immorality" does not make me want to walk anywhere near your church doors. I do not want to be told about what needs to be done to "fix" me. There is nothing wrong with who I am. There is, however, something profoundly wrong with a place of "community" that only accepts people upon the premise that they will be "fixed" one day. How about showing a little bit of love, like Jesus did, and just accept people as they are?
This post was originally published on Ember's personal blog. You can find it here.
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