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separation of church and state…for all :)

i’ve been watching a lot of star trek lately. the idea of what is logical, as represented by the vulcan way of living, has a lot of appeal to me as a philosopher, as a virgo, as a member of lots of intersectional communities.

i love the approach espoused by spock during his first death, ‘the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.’

it is in that spirit that i throw in my two cents on marriage, gay people being seen as equal, and accessing benefits in this country.

1. accessing benefits in this country shouldn’t be determined by whether you make a long-term commitment to one other person.

2. but if benefits are only accessible through making a long-term commitment, then determining which people get to participate, whichever genders they may be (and however many are participating 🙂 ), should be up to those making and living with the commitment, not by external religious norms.

3. because we have separation of church and state as our first amendment, and defining marriage by gender is a religious practice, not a legal, scientific or experiential need or reality.

4. and fortunately, within religious communities, there are active ongoing conversations about the space between what has been taught and what is being experienced. humanity is still learning what is sacred, and how to interact with each other on this finite shared planet with such divergent beliefs. i wish those engaged in those battles within particular elder religious institutions well.

5. but that has nothing to do with what our nation should be deciding and determining for our people. approving and controlling love is not the appropriate work of a government, which is why denying the right to love for any reason eventually fails.

6. so, as the brilliant mervyn marcano says, with deep respect to all my gayest married-est homies, trusting your love AND knowing that we battle on the ground that is politically viable – “I, for one, am hoping marriage is legalized so folks can finally be RID of this tantalizing distraction from what’s really important: housing, healthcare and human rights for all.”