Same Sex Marriage: An End to the Status Quo
by Andrew Trent
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The 21st Century is an interesting time to live. The last seven years have been filled with controversy, turmoil, and uncertainty. Given the cultural landscape in which we find ourselves, we’ve seen a number of events (both political and social) that have inflamed the passions of many people who are adamant on conserving the status quo. One such event concerns the recent lifting of the ban on same sex marriage in California. While not advocating a particular political or religious agenda in this case, I believe that people make this event out to be more of a controversy than it should be.
It’s no surprise that sexual orientation is the result of genetics and biology---science has proven this. It’s also no surprise that countless same-sex affairs have occurred since the dawn of time. Throughout history, however, religious dogma and cultural morays have labeled homosexuality as something subversive, as something unnatural and therefore a sign of “Otherness.” The biological workings of the human mind and body have, at regular intervals throughout recorded time, been usurped by the whims of the “establishment.” Well, it appears that in the 21st Century, the “establishment” is finally giving way to the natural and essential drive of a cross-section of humanity that merely wishes to find marital fulfillment for the first time.
The conservative set is enraged about this, of course. Religious and cultural practitioners claim that same sex marriage subverts traditional family life, that it is destructive to the preservation of sexual morality. Despite all of the conservative arguments leveled at same sex marriage, the fact of the matter is that heterosexual unions will continue to grow and flourish in abundance. Notions of “tradition,” “family life,” and “sexual morality” will in no way be subverted because these ideas will still continue to be preserved by their practitioners. In this case, notions of morality are highly subjective. It is time for the conservative set to transcend this subjectivity in favor of embracing the completeness of humanity. Acceptance is a virtue, yet so called “moral codes” seem to dismiss that fact that we are all human.
At the same time, the more liberal set should understand the reasons why same sex marriage is looked upon with scorn. A person’s upbringing and social environment should be taken into account when one’s personal beliefs are put forth on the table. For example, older generations may not be able to accept same sex marriages simply because of the fact that that was not what they were taught to believe. Practitioners of same sex marriages should understand and realize that social and cultural “programming” informs human thought and behavior, just as much as genetics and biology inform sexual orientation. The archaic view which suggests that those who look down upon same sex marriage are “prejudice” and “hateful” can be just as harmful as labeling homosexuals as “subversive.” It’s time for the liberal set to understand the social and cultural zeitgeists in which people are born into-something controversial will always breed dissension. It is an inescapable fact of human nature.
Perhaps this controversial event stands as a forewarning that humanity will perpetually be at odds with itself.