Once again, the Mountain Xpress has performed a public service by publishing the letter from Joseph Jenkins, proud supporter of Amendment One [“A Pagan Voice For Amendment One,” May 16 Xpress].
From this letter we learn that not all bigotry is religious bigotry. At least not traditionally religious; instead of citing God’s law against homosexual unions, Jenkins cites nature’s law, or what is “natural.” That is a distinction without a difference — an appeal to what is “right,” using his own gut definition of “right.”
Personally, I believe that anything that nature produces is, by definition, natural, and nature has been producing a wide variety of sexual instincts and family arrangements for a long time. Why some people should be able to select the one that is currently socially acceptable is beyond me. What, exactly, is being “forced” on anyone by allowing gays to make their unions official? All that is required is not to stand in the way.
We are supposed to believe that gay marriage “harms marriage.” Among the 10 countries and eight states that have legalized gay marriage, there is no statistical evidence for decreases in bisexual marriage nor increases in divorce rates. And, curiously, there has been no exodus of oppressed married people fleeing to the states and countries where it has been banned.
Gay marriage is going to be legal throughout the land, because it is a matter of equal rights, like voting was for blacks and women. Younger people are comfortable with it, while older ones still fear it. It might take another generation, but it will happen … one funeral at a time.
— Glen Reese
Asheville
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