Madison Ferry

Professor Pearl

SLA 150 01

CST Paper

24 April 2020

Same-Sex Marriage

Same-sex marriages have taken a toll on American people over the last decade or more.

Religion has a significant effect on people's views on same-sex marriage. In this essay, I examine

the history of same-sex marriage, and its trouble with religion, the ideal image of a family,

discrimination and how legalizing same-sex marriage will create equality for all.

Same-sex marriages and couples have been around before Catholicism. There has been evidence

that shows same-sex marriage was accepted and was considered normal before Cathlocism was

established. There are many findings and artifacts from Egypt and Greece that show acceptance

of homosexuality. The main focus in same-sex relationships in early history was often love,

beauty, and excellence of character rather than gender. There was also a cultural-religious basis

for homosexual practice. Greek mythology records "same-sex exploits" by gods as high ranking

as Zeus (History of Same-Sex Marriage 2014). Marriage was considered to show unconditional

love between two people.

Once, Cathlocism started to rise is when people started to frown against homosexuality

and same-sex marriages. In the thirteen century, the first laws banning sodomy were introduced

and were strictly enforced. This would lead to people believing that homosexuality was wrong
and forced the view of heterosexuality on them. By the nineteenth century, heterosexuality was

the main way of life for people. However, same-sex marriages didn't become a debate again until

the twentieth century. In 1993 during a Hawaiian case, that the issue became national news. The

case stated that the restriction of same-sex marriage and its direct benefits to all opposite-sex

couples is unconstitutional. "The Defense of Marriage Act, which was introduced in 1996, is

direct response to the Hawaiian case, which declared that no state would be required to recognize

a same-sex marriage from another state, and also defines opposite-sex marriage as the union

between one man and one woman". The majority of American states then passed laws that band

same-sex marriages(History of Same-Sex Marriage 2014).

In today's society, same-sex marriage is more widely accepted around the world.

Throughout the past two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in public acceptance of

homosexuality, as well as same-sex marriage. Seven-in-ten now says homosexuality should be

accepted by society, compared with 24% who say it should be not accepted by society. People

saying homosexuality should be accepted by society is up to seven percentage points in the past

year and up 19 points from 11 years ago. The growing acceptance of homosexuality has

paralleled an increase in public support for same-sex marriage. About six-in-ten Americans now

say they favor allowing partners of the same sex to marry legally. (History of Same-Sex

Marriage 2014). When it comes to religion and morals accosicated with the religion, most of the

U.S. population says that belief in God is not morally necessary to be moral and have ethical

values. Although a majority of society has come to terms and accepted same-sex marriage in

their community, it is still an existing obstacle in religions. People that are religious and

homosexual are left in between a rock and a hard place. Their religion tells them that it is sinful
and wrong to marry a person of the same-sex, so they are ultimately stuck choosing between

their religion and their partner. It is hard to choose between religion and love. This obstacle

causes them to feel guilt for disobeying their religion, and for most same-sex couples, they end

up hiding their homosexuality.

The relationship between religion and same-sex marriage has varied immensly around the

world, within different religions, and with regard to different forms of homosexuality. In

"Catechism of the Catholic Church," it is prevalent that in the eyes of the church, being gay or

lesbian is a sin. "Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who

experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has

taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological

genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents

homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that 'homosexual acts

are intrinsically disordered.' They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the

gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no

circumstances can they be approved". "Catechism of the Catholic Church" considers

homosexuality to be a sin. Most people of almost all religions consider homosexuality to be a

sin. It is not so much the church's influence that causes people to be against homosexuality; it is

the people that are mislead or were raised to believe that homosexuality is a sin and should not

be performed or else it is deemed unholy.

In my opinion, the majority of the world's population's reasoning on why people are

against same-sex marriage would be their faith. Most religions believe that procreation is the

main reason for marriage. I feel this is very misleading because, in today's society, people have
families without being married. The quality of a relationship should be the most important aspect

of marriage. Marriage should be unconditional love, trust, and faith for one another. If marriage

is supposed to be for having children, then same-sex marriage should not be an issue with new

advancements in science. Same-sex couples can easily do artificial insemination or hire a

surrogate to carry their child.

I believe that discrimination and denying the right to marriage to homosexuals can be

very stressful and disrespectful to them. The most common argument against same-sex marriage

is the way people view or imagine the ideal family. Christianity believes that a perfect family

includes one mother and one father. Both of the parents influence the child in different ways.

Many feel that in a homosexual relationship with a child involved, they will not get the motherly

and fatherly qualities needed (Defending the Family, Defending the Faith May 2018). However,

in today's world, many children are raised in a one-parent household. I feel that as long as the

child is learning right from wrong and is surrounded by love, they will grow up and develop like

many other children. The number of parents or the sexuality of the parents should not affect the

child.

In conclusion, same-sex marriage should be accepted in all religions and in society.

Religions should not determine who should marry who. It should not be the deciding factor of

love, and no person should have to decide between their religion and the person that they want to

marry. A person's worth should not be determined by who they love. Same-sex marriage should

also not be deemed as sinful according to the persons' religion. Marriage should consist of love,

trust, and happiness between two people, not decided on gender. It should be defined as showing

unconditional love between two people, no matter their gender.

 Bibliography

“Catechism of the Catholic Church.” USCCB, Made with FlippingBook,

ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/index.html#subchapter286.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about church teaching on various topics, does not
address bisexual or transgender persons but rather “homosexual persons”.

Jr, Eugene F. Rogers, et al. “Same-Sex Complementarity: A Theology of Marriage.” The

Christian Century, Christain Century, 11 May 2011,ebscohost.com.seton hill.

The article presents discussion regarding the theology of same-sex marriage within Christianity.
The author asserts that same-sex marriage can be defended theologically, examining the
depiction of gender within the context of the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church.
Examples where Christian tradition blurs or ignores gender lines are also given to support his
argument.

John D'Emilio and Estelle B. “History of Same Sex Marriage .” geni_family_tree, 2014,
www.geni.com/projects/History-of-Same-Sex-Marriage/3561 & web.a.ebscohost.com.setonhill.

The article presents the author's insights on the book "Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in
America," by . Freedman and its relationship to the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) community. Among the topics discussed by the author are sexuality and
same-sex marriage.

Scott, David, and Boyd Petersen. “Defending the Family, Defending the Faith: An Analysis of
The Family: A Proclamation to the World, Religious Identity, and the Politics of Same-Sex
Marriage in a Mormon Community.” Taylor & Francis, May 2018,
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1550428X.2017.1318730 & ebscohost.com.setonhill.

In this article, they apply Peter Berger's theory of religion as a social construct to learn how The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) advances a heteronormative
view of family relationships in the United States using a document titled The Family: A
Proclamation to the World. Furthermore, applying cultural studies theory, they examined how
believing Mormons negotiate the tension that arises when their secular values compete with
those expressed by Church leaders. They argue that, although the Proclamation addresses a
number of issues, the Church offers a closed text that emphasizes war narratives in which
same-sex marriage is portrayed as a threat to LDS identity and the heteronormative family. This
closed text is further legitimized by emphasis on the authority of Church leaders as oracles of
God. The study participants largely accept the dominant narrative, and those who reject it, do so
with some trepidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]