Gay Marriages
...ns would not have had the right to vote, women would not have the right to vote…The purpose of a constitution is to protect a minority group from the wrath of the majority." I answer that, by legalizing gay marriages, a new precedent will be set. Moral standards will be obscured and “younger generations’ views on forms of behavior” will be tainted.1 Homosexuality is unnatural and should not be endorsed by the state. Homosexual couples should have basic civil rights but marriage is a special institution that should be reserved for a man and a woman. Homosexual unions are without the biological and anthropological elements of marriage.1 Also, the legalization of homosexual unions would no longer make marriage analogous with heterosexuality.1 According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the law should reflect the common good; the law helps sculpt one’s lifestyle. There are three types of law: eternal, natural, and human. Eternal law is an exemplar of divine reason as it directs actions and movements. Natural law is the participation of the creature in the eternal law; it is the natural inclination to the proper end. Natural law and eternal law are interlocked. They could almost be considered derivations of each other. Human law is the application of natural (universal) law, which is not conventional or arbitrary, but agreed upon by different communities. When civic law (the legalization of same-sex marriages) is at odds with the natural law than the former takes primacy. The natural law may be changed by addition. Divine and civic laws add to it but nothing can ever be effaced from the natural law for that forever holds true. Human law train people to be virtuous. Homosexual marriage departs from the law of nature therefore it is a perversion of the law and should not be recognized by the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Natural law is in us like a habit is in us. We do not reflect on natural law, we just act according to it. “Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices (CCC, 2396).” God spelled out his stance on homosexual acts by his punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis. Homosexuality is a “disorder;” it is wrong.1 The most basic principle of natural law is good is to be sought whilst evil is to be avoided. Angelo Amato, Titular Archbishop of Sila Secretary who is in accordance with Aquinas’s methodology of thought, explicitly communicated that “the approval or legalization of evil (homosexual couples) is something far different from the toleration of evil.1” I agree. There are three levels to natural law. The first is to preserve one’s being, which means suicide is sacrilegious. The second is sexual intercourse and the education and protection of offspring. The last is distinctive to humans and that is to know the truth of God. These are constant and do not vary from culture to culture. At a glimpse, the aforementioned may appear individualistic, but they are all for the common good. Our actions affect the rest of the world. Under that assumption, what does marriage affect? It affects the state. Marriage is for sex and reproduction, hence homosexual marriage is contradictory to the goals of the state. State and religion are separate; yet, the two unquestionably influence each other. The church is free to voice its opinion on gay marriages and the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) can listen. However, the state is not obliged to act upon the beliefs of the church. The Scripture (the Bible) was created before the Constitution. The constitution derived its definition of marriage from the Scripture therefore it is only logical that it looks to the Bible or the church once more as a form of reference with regards to the issue of gay marriages. Further, the Bible is not like the Constitution. The Constitution was created by the imperfect intellect of man which means it is inherently subject to revisions, whereas, the Bible is the canon of the Scripture, the basis of Christian beliefs. It was created by the boundless knowledge of God and revelation; therefore it is void of error. “In God We Trust (American Dollar).” Reply Obj. 1. It is unacceptable and unlawful to discriminate based on age, religion, race, national origin, sex, color, or handicap according to the Constitution; yet, the majority of people still find it difficult digest that homosexual couples would like to have civil marriages with all the benefits. Marriage is recognized throughout the entire country. But, civil unions are different. Since only one state and almost another (Vermont and soon to be Massachusetts) thus far have recognized the civil union of gay couples, they are exempt from federal benefits such as tax relief, insuran...