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Summa Contra Christiani
February 26, 2004, 12:51 p.m. Something Thomas Aquinas said once, I think in his Summa Contra Gentiles, was that if he were to argue against the heathens as to the truth of Christ’s words, he would use natural philosophy (divine truths reachable by simple logic); similarly, if he were to argue against the Jews, he would use only the Old Testament. Basically, he was saying he would use the authority they recognised. So now I go into battle against those Christians who would say that gay marriage is wrong, and I will not try to argue with them on what the Bible says. I accept it, the Bible does not approve of homosexuality, states marriage is a sanctity, and therefore to join two men or two women in marriage would be to violate that sanctity. But the fact is, I don’t accept the Bible as an authority. I can’t vouch for all gay couples, but I think even if they are Christian, they have rejected the Bible’s (or at least that interpretation of the Bible) authority on this issue. And the fact is, we live in a democracy. This means you have to look out for everyone’s interests, not just the people who accept the Bible as an authority. So, the Bible has no say in this. Marriage is not a ritual that is exclusively Christian – are you going to tell me heterosexual marriage between two Muslims, two Hindus or two atheists is illegal? The purpose of marriage in our society is not the begetting of children, or the sanctioning of sex, because that happens outside wedlock all the time, but the joining of two people who love each other. And if we allow two people, who happen to be the same sex, to marry each other for love, it’s not going impinge on your rights. The simple fact is, you can’t impose your own belief system on someone else. They’re not trying to impose their belief system on you – they’re just asking you to let them be, to express their love. To allow them rights you yourself enjoy – because they’re rights. Not privileges. Gay people aren’t going to give up their homosexuality just because they can’t marry. You aren’t going to have to change the way you marry or who you marry if you allow them to. I’m sorry, this rant isn’t very coherent or well written. It’s not even a rant, for that implies anger. I’m just confused, and a little sad. How do you have a leg to stand on, in your opposition to this?
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