Written by Marcelo in response to a question about whether gay marriage should be legal. I thought it was very well written so I'm reposting here.

The dogma of “marriage” being only between a male & a female is a RELIGIOUS based ideology.


But we don’t live in a THEOCRACY. We live in a Democratic Republic that guarantees a separation of CHURCH & STATE.


By the very nature of our Constitution, our government & thus the law of the land is “areligious” (meaning “not practicing a religion; indifferent to or uninfluenced by a religion”). As pious as we are led to believe the Founding Fathers were, it doesn’t change the fact that they purposefully created & adopted a Constitution that is areligious. And since marriage (as we know it) is regulated by the state for the express purpose of collecting tax revenues from people engaged in such legal contract, and for the assessment of division of property when & if the contract dissolves, marriage (as we know it) is an areligious civil institution.


Marriage is no longer a religious institution & hasn’t been for as long as the government has been issuing marriage licenses. Sure, you can have a ceremony that is presided over by a member of the clergy of your chosen faith, but haven’t you noticed that the union is not legally binding until the marriage license has been filed with the local government? Common sense, right? Wrong.


Unfortunately, our own nations history is all too often forgotten when it can lend us great wisdom.
Here are some examples:

1. Our current President claims to garner divine wisdom from his patron deity that guides the leadership decisions that he makes on behalf of the people of this nation. Keep in mind that from earliest records of human history, leaders from the most benevolent to crazed despots (including those that have claimed to be divine) have used the guise of divine wisdom, divine right, and/or divine mandate to justify their motives despite whether they are to the benefit or detriment of the people they lead. More times than not, the “God is on my side” argument has been used to justify the wrong decision.


2. Our Constitution GAURANTEES equal treatment under the law for ALL citizens of the United States of America. 600,000 Americans perished in a Civil War (1861-1865) that was fought to unify our country that had become violently divided over the issue of the rights of the individual states superseding those of the Federal government (and the Constitution), though this was only a thin veil over the real issue, which was slavery and the debate over whether slaves were to be treated as second class citizens, non-citizens/property or citizens as property with limited rights. Fortunately, the side in the right won. Slavery was abolished and full citizenship (including equal protection under the Constitution) was granted to all Americans, including the former belligerents. Unfortunately, it would be another 100 years of violence, ignorance & intolerance before the Civil Rights movement of the 20th Century solidified the gains made by the sacrifices of the Civil War generation. Keep in mind that the argument of slavery’s religious justification was made by those who sought to perpetuate it.


3. American women labored for their own equal protection & benefits of citizenship under the law from 1848 – 1920, culminating in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing their right to vote. Keep in mind that the argument of a woman not having the same rights & privileges under the law as a man (at base level nothing more than chauvinism & misogyny) was religiously justified by those who sought to perpetuate it.


My point is simple – the current debate over gay marriage is once again nothing more than theocratic elements of our society imposing their religious based ideology upon a government system where it has no place.


The truth of the matter is even more simple – marriage as a religious institution does not exist in our society where marriage is regulated by an areligious government. It DOES NOT matter that two people who wish to engage in the civil contract of marriage are homosexual or heterosexual because as long as they are citizens of the United States they have that right under the protection of the Constitution.


The United States of America is not a country that has a caste system.


The United States of America does not maintain second class citizens.


And keep this in mind, every time you vote to take away or deny other United States Citizen’s rights, there’s someone else out there willing to take away a few of yours, as well.


As a Citizen of the United States, we all have the right to practice whatever religious faith we choose for ourselves, not to choose for everyone else.


To all of my friends & family in California, I am begging you to not be fooled by the theocratic elements of our great state who would deny inalienable rights to your fellow citizens of the United States. California used to be the most progressive & forward thinking state in the Union, and now we have fallen behind Hawaii, Vermont & Massachusetts on the issue of legal marriage for all.


Help California move back to the front of the line – vote NO on Proposition 8!