Gay Marriage Legal in New York State

I just recently heard about the legalization of gay marriage in my state, and I figured I would do a quick blog about my thoughts on it.

There is a big debate about whether or not gay marriage is a good thing for society. Some believe that such a thing destroys the meaning of marriage and is immoral. Obviously such a belief is typically limited to those looking to protect religious values. I see no objective reason for why gay marriage is a bad thing. It would only be a bad thing if it had a negative impact—which I don't believe it does. In fact I believe the effect of gay marriage on society is a good thing in that it is what many gay couples want, and it harms virtually no one (may cause stress for those that are philosophically against it, which I guess could be slightly harmful). In fact I believe this development will lesson societal turmoil: when one group is unable to do things that another group is able to do, this is a rights violation, and this only fuels in-group/out-group hatred. Gay marriage certainly will further help integrate the gay community. As far as those that believe it will ruin heterosexual marriages, I don't understand how—unless of course for those "heterosexual" people that get tempted to jump to the other side of the fence (where they feel more comfortable). Obviously I am not all knowing, but from what I have seen, gay marriage should have no effect on true heterosexual marriages. In-fact homosexuality is better in the open than for it to be hidden and for gay men to hide their sexuality by getting into heterosexual relationships (which is harmful in itself). The fact of the matter is, even if gay marriage does go against certain people's values, this is a free country, and freedom is a two-way street.

Moral of the story: Don't worry marriage traditionalists, no one is going to force you into a same-sex marriage. And while this victory for the gay community isn't directly connected with the rise of atheism, I believe the rise of atheism has strengthened secularism, which surely has helped (close enough to a victory for atheism...or more specifically, secularism over religion). 

Ted Haggard Apologizes to Gay people

At least he is being honest about it. It is true that homophobes often have their own internal struggles with fighting back homosexual urges—which is why their minds are so engaged in the topic. I believe that a lot of the hatred towards gay people in the past was caused by those in positions of power—preaching hatred due to their own internal struggles. This is the reason for why the church (Protestant and Catholic) have been preaching against it so ferociously in the past. And more specifically for the Catholics—what kind of man would give up having a family to serve God? I'm not saying all Catholic priests are gay, but it seems to be a good career path to get into when in a society has an extreme paranoia against homosexuality. On top of that, being paranoid that the devil causes homosexuality would worry certain individuals enough to the point of wanting to practice as much religion as possible out of fear. I believe that priesthood is on the decline because being gay is becoming more acceptable in society (they don't need to hide in the church). I also believe that suppressing sexual urges over a long period of time can warp a person's mind, causing them to be sexually deviant—to put it mildly—which is why priests typically victimize boys instead of girls (they are attracted to males). Perhaps I'm wrong, but it's just food for thought.