Politics & Religion

I have been sitting on this for a few days. It is a very sensitive issue, and I wanted to put a lot of thought into it. It concerns three of the most personal issues I can think of offhand. Politics, religion, and sex.

A couple weeks ago I heard that my church was looking for volunteers to call people in California about the Homosexual marriage amendment. Now, my Church is normally very good about staying out of politics, they say that we need to exercise our civic responsibility to vote, and that we need to choose who will best represent what we think is important. No names, no parties, and that is the way I like it. So I was rather disturbed when I heard this, the rationalization was that they take a stand on moral issues not political ones, but it still felt off somehow. thankfully on Sunday they withdrew that request.

But that got me thinking... the separation between religion and science is easy for me to understand. Science asks how and religion asks why, they are two different questions so of course they have two different answers. But the separation between church and state is a little more fuzzy. I guess for me church is private, and needs to be taken care of in your household and in your heart. Whereas politics needs to be public, and take care of all those public things.

So really, morals should only be used to tell if the politician is honest (good luck there) and will legitimately represent the majority he/she is supposed to represent. A politician's personal views really don't matter too much to me, what matters is their personal integrity. (Also a rousing good luck there.)

Also central to today's rant is the idea of Homosexual marriage. My father-in-law is homosexual, I love him, and happily spend time with him. I do not approve of his lifestyle and he knows that. He is still a wonderful person. I just do not approve of his choice. This word I have used "choice" is going to cause some trauma. I have no idea where the feelings come from, they may have some natural cause, they may be learned, who knows. I know that they are there, but I also know that everyone can decide what to do with the feeling they have. If I had been taught differently I am pretty sure I could have chosen to be bisexual. I have never been massively attracted to a woman, but then I am not terribly attracted to many men either. for me it would have been very easy to go one way or another, or both. People can become attracted to all kinds of things, small children, farm animals, farm equipment, the list is endless. Thoughts never have to translate themselves into actions, unless we let them.

that being said, I do think that people in steady relationships, who have built a life together on whatever grounds need some kind of legal protection. Unraveling that type of situation is messy no matter who is involved. I just do not think that we need to give it the name of marriage. Legal protection, sure why not, for me that is firmly in the politics area. Trying to call it marriage, seems I am being forced into a position where I have to approve. and I do not. And that takes it back over to the religion side.

I do not want my morals to become legislated. I do not want approval forced from me. Politics is for things like taxes and police and major things that any society needs to function. What happens in my house, and my neighbors house (As long as no one is getting victimized) needs to be left out.