Marriage-defining discussion persists
The real and serious problem with the discussion surrounding marriage these days is the very corrupt notion that such a decision should be left to the people. Our Constitution presides in such a way that many issues are to be decided by the government and many are to be decided by the “mob,” the general populace. Marriage is an issue left to the government, and for good reason.
Throughout our history, issues of equality have always been the jurisdiction of the government. Race and gender equality have been “settled” (to the extent that they have been settled) by federal legislation, as they should be — for to let the general populace decide matters of equality is to let wolves guard the sheep.
To be sure, current egalitarian legislation would not have passed were it not for popular support, but such legislation passed when popular support was merely growing and not at a point where it was the majority, by any means. An indication of such would be the existence in 16 states in 1967 of laws that banned biracial marriage. This was, after all, post-Civil Rights Act and post-Voting Rights Act. And yet, our fair populace encouraged and augmented bans on biracial marriage in nearly one third of the United States.
The public has long been known to encourage legislative inequality and only when the federal government steps in to pass the appropriate legislation has there been any sense of moral victory.
Moreover, marriage is an issue of equality, for it is a right governed by the state and given to various individuals. So to disallow certain individuals access to a right guaranteed to others is to discriminate and foster inequality. Thus, it is the jurisdiction, once again, of the federal government to force the populace to yield power over marriage and pass a collective bill in which all citizens are guaranteed the right to marry whomever they choose.
Jeff Weyant
Undergraduate
If we allow the removal of marital restrictions from homosexual couples then we should also consider removing all marital restrictions. We should allow siblings to marry, adults to marry children, and multiple partner marriages, as well as anyone else who wants to get married.
Why should we draw the line at homosexuals?
Joe Knebelsberger
Undergraduate
