Why I Oppose Same Sex Marriage
Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 6:00AM Many libertarians favor same sex marriage. I am basically a libertarian, but oppose same sex marriage. In a libertarian society, I would not care. But is a society that lacks freedom, like ours, I oppose it. This article tells you why:
On Thursday, administrative judge Solomon A. Metzger ruled that religious liberty did not exempt the seaside retreat, which is associated with the United Methodist Church, from renting its facilities out for purposes that violate its moral beliefs.
In March 2007, Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association declined Harriet Bernstein and Luisa Paster’s request to rent its Boardwalk Pavilion for the ceremony. The couple sued, claiming they had been discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation. In December 2008, the state Division on Civil Rights found the Christian campground had likely violated the state Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and joined the case.
This is the basic problem with same sex marriage is that it is combined with the coercive power of the state to destroy religious liberty. If a religious group can not regulate its own activities on its own property, then there is no limit to what the state might do.
Surely I am exaggerating. Health and Human Services just announced this gem:
In August 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services issued an interim final rule that will require most health insurance plans to cover preventive services for women including recommended contraceptive services without charging a co-pay, co-insurance or a deductible. The rule allows certain non-profit religious employers that offer insurance to their employees the choice of whether or not to cover contraceptive services. Today the department is announcing that the final rule on preventive health services will ensure that women with health insurance coverage will have access to the full range of the Institute of Medicine's recommended preventive services, including all FDA -approved forms of contraception. Women will not have to forego these services because of expensive co-pays or deductibles, or because an insurance plan doesn't include contraceptive services.
I thought that your plan would not change? What this means is that a religious organization must, if they provide health care, also provide contraception. What if your religion does not believe in artificial contraception? Tough. This will probably means that people who work in Catholic hospitals will have to get their own health insurance since it will no longer be provided by the hospital. The charities effected were graciously given an extra year to obey.
While I do not agree with the Catholic church's position on birth control, I find it abhorrent that someone would be forced to pay for an act they feel is immoral. Even worse, it is inevitable that the abortion pill RU-486 will be classified as a contraceptive.
I blogged about Slouching Toward Gomorrah recently. The process is speeding up.
Reader Comments (3)
Would I have the right to deny the Methodists use of my space and deny any prayer on the property? No I would be violating their civil liberties. Why is it only ok to use a bullseye over someone's face if it is for political purposes? You really just want a state like the Middle East where the state religion is also the laws of the land, you just want Christianity. It's called a theocracy, be honest about your ideals, and it is the antithesis of libertarianism.
Absolutely you should have the right to deny any use of your property. It is yours. This is the essence of libertarianism. You have a rather stronger argument with regard to public space. But of course in a true libertarian soceity there would be little or no public space.
The issue is not can two homosexuals contract with each other. Why should I, or anyone else, interfere with that? The issue is how can two people who contract with each other force me, who is NOT a party to the contract to follow it. This is very basic contract law.
I would say that your position is the exact same position as those in the Middle East. You want to impose your views on others by force. I wish to NOT do this.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association took a tax benefit from the government from the "Green Acres" program, which give state money to organizations that will maintain land for public use, by taking the money of the state that is funded by gay and lesbian citizens it cannot deny use of publicly funded land to any citizens.