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About the Episode
The constitution contains 4543 words. Not a single one of them are Jesus, Christianity or the Bible.
The Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage this week in a landmark decision. This is common sense to me because I believe in religious liberty. Therefore we do not have a national religion. Therefore, our laws are not based on religion. Therefore, marriage does not need a religious basis. However, I’ve read and heard too many arguments this week that hatefully and shamefully do not honor this part of American culture. Marriage is a CIVIL contract which can be traced back thousands of years ago…i.e. WAY BEFORE Christianity ever existed!!! It was a civil contract to populate the tribe, settle disputes, create allies, and share resources. To say it’s NOT a constitutional right or a secular event is totally ignorant to the entire idea of the social construct. You can have as many weddings as you want, but if you don’t go to a CIVIL building, pay a fee, and have a CIVIL JUDICIAL STAFFER sign off on that very important piece of paper, you will NOT be recognized as a couple nor receive any employee, city, county, state, or federal rights or benefits as a married entity.
Marriage equality is a legal issue. It has nothing to do with religion. No one is asking anyone to change their religion. You do not need a bible to get married, you need a license. Atheists get married every day – without a bible – and it’s a perfectly legal marriage.
NEVER has a marriage equality law required or forced a clergy member to conduct a same-sex wedding. At the same time, IF you are a state, county, city clerk who’s JOB is to issue marriage licenses, your JOB requires you to obey the law. If you don’t like it, fine! There are plenty of people who need jobs, some of whom surely will not let their job performance be affected by bigotry!!!
There are 40,000 Christian denominations, a thousand versions of the Bible, and thousands and thousands of different Gods and Goddesses worshipped around the world AND IN THIS COUNTRY. YOUR version does not get to be shoved on the rest of us! That’s what religious liberty means. And let’s cut the crap: when people say “biblical marriage,” they mean their idea of marriage, not the bible’s representation. The bible does say marriage is between a man and a woman…and the bible also says between a man and a woman and the man’s concubines, or a man and a woman and another woman and another woman, or a rape victim and her rapist. The bible says plenty of things about marriage, but it has nothing to say about to consenting, loving, same-sex partners. Using the bible to justify your own fears and bigotry is about as un-Christian as you can get.
If you don’t remember anything else at least remember this. Soon all couples will be able to protect their Marijuana plants with guns they purchased with Bitcoin. And as always, more guns equals less crime. Go out and buy yourself a gun. You’ve been listening to Come And Talk It with Michael Cargill.