Spring Break
Letter to the editor
Jeff Penoyer
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: Opinion
I would just like to take a moment to respond to both of the articles regarding homosexuality and marriage printed Monday.
Marriage is by definition a religious institution. It has become a political issue because the government has adopted the title "marriage" and given specific rights to those who are officially joined by it. This does not mean that the same rights cannot be given to same-sex couples under a different title. Civil unions, for example, could offer the same entitlements to same-sex couples as a marriage -- from the government.
Everyone has the right to love who they love, and everyone has the right to equal government treatment. However, not everyone has the right to marriage, as it is fundamentally a union between a man and a woman.
Just as I can't go to McDonalds and order a Whopper, same-sex couples can't go to churches and say they want to be married. That's just not the purpose of marriage.
However, McDonalds does make a great Big Mac, and let's be honest here, it tastes the same.
Fighting for equality should not mean fighting for the right to marry. It just doesn't equate.
Jeff Penoyer
Junior
Mechanical Engineering
Marriage is by definition a religious institution. It has become a political issue because the government has adopted the title "marriage" and given specific rights to those who are officially joined by it. This does not mean that the same rights cannot be given to same-sex couples under a different title. Civil unions, for example, could offer the same entitlements to same-sex couples as a marriage -- from the government.
Everyone has the right to love who they love, and everyone has the right to equal government treatment. However, not everyone has the right to marriage, as it is fundamentally a union between a man and a woman.
Just as I can't go to McDonalds and order a Whopper, same-sex couples can't go to churches and say they want to be married. That's just not the purpose of marriage.
However, McDonalds does make a great Big Mac, and let's be honest here, it tastes the same.
Fighting for equality should not mean fighting for the right to marry. It just doesn't equate.
Jeff Penoyer
Junior
Mechanical Engineering
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
LeSabot
posted 3/04/09 @ 8:38 AM MST
Marriage has nothing to do with churches. My wife and I are certainly married, we have a certificate that says marriage on it, but we signed the paperwork in the library of an elementary school. (Continued…)
Amy
posted 3/04/09 @ 1:50 PM MST
Marriage is most definitely a legal issue- take for instance the "common law marriage" which takes no more than a few months of cohabitation and calling your significant other "husband" or "wife". (Continued…)
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