This will probably offend someone...

As I was watching CNN today I was exposed to a video in which pastors in Washington D.C., that are outraged about a 12 to 1 vote that would recognize same-sex marriages that are performed in other states. To most people this might not seem like much of a story, but for me I see it quite differently. I know that this is a subject that is very sensitive and I might offend many by my views, and I apologize in advance. However, I can't help but parallel the struggle of those homosexual men and women who seek equal rights in marriage to the same corresponding fight for tolerance and fairness that have been taken by African-Americans and women to name a few.

Many Americans are unaware of this court case, but on June 2, 1958, Virginia citizens Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter, crossed the Potomac river into the District of Columbia to get married, and returned home to Virginia. Under most circumstances, this would be a perfectly fine union of marriage, however, with Richard Loving being a white man, and Mildred Jeter being a woman of colored descent, this was an illegal union under Virginia state law. Police in an attempt to catch them sleeping with each other, stormed into their bedroom at night and charged them with a violation under a Virginia Code, which prohibited interracial couples from being married out of state and then returning to Virginia. Also, the Lovings were charged with a violation, which were classified as "miscegenatio

n," or the mixing of racial groups; meaning in this case whites and those designated as non-whites were charged as a felony punishable by a prison sentence of between one and five years. The Lovings pleaded guilty, and were sentenced to serve o

ne year in prison, however, they had their sentences suspended under the condition that they were not to return to the state of Virginia together for 25 years.

Eventually the case reached the Supreme Court of the United States, and they ruled unanimously that they would reverse the previous decision of the Virginia Supreme Court, while stating that the previous courts decision was unconstitutional, and that it had conclusively "invalidated all state prohibition on interracial marriages." This case proved to be one of the last landmark cases of the civil rights era, as it completely destroyed the concept that people could be separated by law for the color of their skin. Further, this case proved to be essential for even more reasons.

It is a common belief among many, that marriage is one of the foundations of human life, and I agree; this precedent is found in Genesis with Adam and Eve. Furthermore, in this case, we saw that the union of two people was previously regulated and restricted by particular states. In doing so, we saw that these laws were a direct violation of the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was the deprivation of the freedoms of United States citizens' rights without the due process of law. It is the vested right of every United States citizen to be able to choose who they would like to have a legal union with, and it is not the right of the state, nor the government to have the right to impose any type of restriction upon it. While many Christians may be uncomfortable with the term "marriage," in my own opinion, given the precedent set in the Loving v. Virginia case, it is still the right of these men and women to be able to have the freedom to pursue a union with whom they choose, and it is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause, to not be able to have this opportunity without the Due Process of law.

Now this is where things get very interesting. On one hand, as a Christian, I am told that the right of marriage is to be shared only between a man and a woman. In Romans, the bible says that;

"In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and

were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and recived in themselves due penaly or their conversion."- Romans 1:27

However, regarding sexual immorality, the bible also says that;

Deuteronomy 22:22

22 If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

Matthew 5:27-30

27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery. 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out

and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

While I don't see any Courts sentencing men and women to death for infidelity, I also do not see

many one armed men, or men and women who purposely remove their eyes due to their lusts. How can we revoke the rights of one body of individuals due to maybe 6 or 7 verses from the millions in the bible, especially when Jesus never mentioned it. However, Jesus DID mention that we MUST NOT judge others. He says;

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it

will be measured to you." - Matthew 7:1.

While these pastors and religious leaders spew their judgements upon these men and women, many do not understand that their own judgement in coming, nor do they condemn their fellow Church leadership that commits heterosexual adultery. In His ministry, Jesus chose NOT to condemn loners of society, the lepers, Roman soldiers, paralytics, the sickly, the blind, the mute, prostitutes, the poor, the same people we cast off on a daily basis. To make matters worse, these same individuals who denounce and depreciate the homosexual community fail to recognize their own faults under the eyes of God. Who are any one of us to judge these people? Jesus even says, that we must," first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Well, I don't know about you all, but point me the person who is without sin, and I will call them a liar.

I have someone very close to me who is in a same-sex relationship, and I know that Jesus loves her no more and no less than any one of us. While I might not approve of it, I am no different in my own sinful nature to cast any judgement upon her. The term sin is an archery term that refers to when an archer missed his mark. In that case, the overseer would yell,"sin!" It is in the same way, that a sin is when we miss the mark that God calls upon each and every one of us to follow. Her sin is no different than mine, and I firmly believe that God sees it as such. The American Psychological Association released the following statement:

Now I chose to place this quote in here because one of the main arguments used in the same-sex marriage argument is that there is something "wrong" with these men and women and thus, they are not fit to have the same rights and benefits of a normal heterosexual marriage. Well, that is ridiculous, because there are millions and millions of homosexual men and women, some that we do not even know about due to biases that live productive and meaningful lives. Regardless of religious belief, and in my belief, even more so because of our religious beliefs, we must love and accept these people as children of God, because we're ALL his children. It is wrong and contradictory of us to judge these people when we are no different in sin. Ok, my rant is over, like I said, if I offened anyone I apologize. To me, it's all about equality, and if God loves us all equally, every one should be guaranteed equality if we're truly one nation, under God.