Thursday, December 1, 2011

Sanctity and Love

<http://front.moveon.org/two-lesbians-raised-a-baby-and-this-is-what-they-got/#.TtcBlxNCdMr.facebook> 


This is a video from a 19 year old student at the University of Iowa.  His speech about same-sex marriage having an affect on parenting and raising a family is flawless.  I'll let you watch the short video instead of summing it up, but it's probably the most professional speech I have ever seen a 19 year old give.


<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu3VXwYVlGw>


This is a GREAT clip from The Chew (favorite daytime show)- and one of the best quotes from Clinton Kelly starts at 1:40 and is a few seconds... He says that there are so many people in our country fighting for the right to marriage, and how disgusting that some people would flaunt their right to marriage only to divorce in a matter of days.


I have to honor both of these men and they're arguments.  As cynical as I am about "love", I do believe it is something to be valued and is a need for everyone.  I'm a Human Development major, and study the terrible disorders, environments, families and other social problems that children and adults grow up in.  My heart reaches out to them, believe that if they could feel love, they wouldn't have to hurt or need to hurt others.


Now maybe that's naive, but it's what I believe.  I'm embarrassed by certain states in our country that ban same-sex marriages and/or same-sex couples adopting children.  No, more than embarrassed, disgusted.  I look at so many family dynamics, and granted it takes more than love to create a successful and happy family, but that's the foundation.  There are so many loveless marriages and families that exist currently, simply because they can.  I think that law officials are worried about what allowing same-sex couples to marry will do to the "sanctity of marriage".  Personally, I think it would help.  


The history of marriage values has certain changed over the past century.  There is not as much of a emphasis on the importance of it.  The gravity has changed.  You can make all of the normal arguments of why the severity decreased, like "no-fault divorce", annulments, the decrease of defined faith and decrease in church attendance... These are all reasonably arguments that I am not disagreeing with.  That fact of the matter is the level of commitment has gone down. 


However, I think allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children could raise the level of commitment and gravity to the constitution of marriage and family.  We as a country and culture need to change the constitution of marriage.  We need to redefine marriage as the sanctity of love and commitment between two individuals.  We also need to redefine family to incorporate more varieties of family systems such as single-parent families, same-sex parents, families with adopted children, and so forth without as much stigma and with just as much support.


Love is truly something precious to be treasured.  I support anyone and everyone who is able to find it in it's absolute truth.  As Horton says, "A person's a person, no matter how small..."