[Note: I actually wrote this post in late 2008, shortly after the American Presidential Election. All the points in it are still relevant today, though]

So, with the US election nearly a month behind us, the outcome of Proposition 8 in California, and similar ones that passed throughout the United States, the issue of gay marriage is still on the front of a lot of people's minds.

The question that begs to be asked is not whether homosexuals should be allowed to married, but who really should be allowed to marry?

Let's start with something simple. The Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition defines marriage the following way:

"(1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage" Source

That doesn't seem very helpful. It defines marriage as both between two members of the opposite sex, but includes a second statement saying that the same applies to members of the same sex. So, according to Webster's, all human beings should be allowed to marry, regardless of their sexual orientation.

So what does the Catholic Church say? I choose the Catholic Church as I was raised in a Catholic family, and therefore I have dealt with issues of Catholic faith for most of my life. From Wikipedia, the Catholic Church defines marriage the following way:

"Catholic marriage is an indissoluble bond between a man and a woman, created by human contract and ratified by divine grace." Source

Okay, so that's pretty clear. Marriage must be between a man and a woman. The Catholic Church also has conditions such as "both the man and the woman must be baptized." Uh oh. What about atheists? According to the Catholic Church, they do not qualify for marriage.

To sum up, here's what we have. Based on the Church's stance on marriage (which is many people's reason for wanting to make gay marriage illegal; marriage in God's eyes is between a man and a woman) athiests cannot marry either, nor does anyone who was not baptized by the Church.

Here's a better idea. The people who want marriage between a man and a woman can have it. Let marriage stay that way, but apply the separation of Church and State to it. Let marriage become a religious only ceremony. If you are not part of the Church, you get civil unions. This seems fair to me. It protects the "sanctity" of marriage, while allowing everyone else to enter into a government approved civil union that is completely separate from the Church.

Don't like this idea? Think that YOU, someone who is not religious, but heterosexual, should be allowed to married? Then let us homosexuals marry as well. Either give the Church full control over marriage, or give the State full control, but don't force them to share it. It only leads to conflict and internal strife.

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