Mahwige

I've been married for nearly 11 years.  It is my second marriage.  My first marriage was a four-year, "starter" marriage train wreck from which I learned exactly what I didn't want in a relationship.  The first time I married, I did it to get away from smothering parents and to give myself the motivation to pursue my dreams.  Looking back I wish I would have had the self-confidence to go after my goals on my own instead of using marriage as a means to an end, but life is filled with "shoulda-coulda-wouldas".

Point is, I didn't take marriage seriously when I was in my early 20s, but I was allowed to do it, because I was a woman marrying a man.  Now that I am in a healthy, good marriage, and truly respect the institution of marriage, I cannot imagine being denied the privilege of spending my life with my spouse, which is why I am completely perplexed by the movement in this country to deny the benefits of marriage to two people who love each other and want to make a life together strictly because they are the same gender.

I have heard all of the bullshit arguments, the main one being about the "biblical" standard, which is hilarious.  Let's look at that "biblical" standard.  First off, I put "biblical" in quotes, because the version of the texts that is often used by the folks who always seem to be condemning others is very different from the original Aramaic and Hebrew texts, but the "bible" bangers often overlook that when it doesn't suit their needs.

Back to the "biblical" standard of marriage.  Opponents of same sex marriage claim that their bible states that marriage is between a man and a woman, but think of who wrote the bible.  Although the claim is that the bible was divinely inspired, the fact is that the oral interpretation, which became written at some point, was penned by men who had multiple wives.  It was nothing, back in the ancient oldy times, to have at least four ladies refer to you as husband, and if you were particularly wealthy, you got the perk of concubines (i.e. women who were yours to sleep with, procreate with, but not have to marry).  If you were very wealthy, you also got slaves, which you could molest at will.

Do you really think that these men, with all of their generous options for tail, would have limited themselves to a one man/one woman scenario?  Not likely.  There is also the fact that women, of that time, were not married to men they loved.  Sure, the bible points out relationships like Ruth and Boaz, and Abraham and Sarah (but even the greatest patriarch had a mistress, who ended up being the matriarch of Islam).  Most women were married off to men to increase their families finances or standing in the community.  Much like in today's Afghanistan and other Third World countries, women were not of value in biblical times.

Oh, and to top it off, this same book that supposedly gives the edict of one man/one woman marriage also says that if a man rapes a woman, he must marry her, which is only a truth that male members of the Tea Party and the Taliban still adhere to.

Basically the claim of biblical marriage is completely full of shit, yet somehow the faithful have justified denying rights and happiness to couples they don't know and will never meet, because of biased religious beliefs.  I'm sorry that the idea of two boys kissing gives you the willies, but it's none of your fucking business.

I support same sex marriage for several reasons, but the main one is that I don't believe in telling other people how to live their lives.  If you want my opinion or advice, I'm more than happy to give it, after all, I am a middle-aged, Jewish woman.  However, I have zero right to impose my beliefs on you.  Isn't that what freedom means?  The right to live your life without others imposing their beliefs, particularly religious beliefs, on you.

I continue to be amazed by the fact that the people who claim to love freedom and G-d and guns and apple pie and 'don't tread on me' the most are always the ones who want to take that "bible" and force you to live by its standards, either by using it to prevent a loving couple from getting married or by preventing women from having a say over what she wants to do with her life and body.

I have no doubt in my mind that same sex marriage will become the law of the land within the next 10 years, and I hope it will be sooner than later.  Love is love, and if you could bring the guys who lived 2,000 years ago, and wrote a book that has been misinterpreted several times over, into today's world, they would probably agree with that, after they stopped being amazed by the intense amount of cat posts on Facebook.