LETTER: Gay Marriage Amendment Melds Into Dangerous Appeal for Theocracy

By Michael Kent

Dear Editor: In her recent guest column, Julaine Appling expertly presented one of the driving arguments of the proponents of the anti homosexual marriage and civil union amendment. That is, if homosexuals are allowed to marry, what’s next? Polygamy? The breakdown of marriage as an institution? Indeed, the question of “what’s next” is a troubling one.

I would propose, however, that the question is being asked of the wrong side. If religious fundamentalists are successful in institutionalizing discrimination against homosexuals, who will be the next group they decide to attack? Who else fails to live up to their standards of moral hygiene?

Single parents, perhaps? They certainly have been pushing the idea that a child needs a male/female two-parent household. Will they try to save those poor kids from their single parent and place them with a good conservative two parent household?

How about people who have pre-marital intercourse? They certainly wouldn’t want to enable such behavior by giving the parents of children born of such relations the same rights as properly married parents.

How about unmarried couples who co-habitate? Oh wait, they’re already going after them with this same amendment.

How about atheists? They’ve got to save those children from a life in which they aren’t given proper religious instruction. What about Jews for that matter? Those kids could grow up disbelieving the divinity of Jesus Christ, himself.

If we let them force their views on others in this way, how long before the rest of the Levitical laws start to be codified in our legal system? How long before people are no longer allowed to eat shrimp? How long before people are prohibited from planting vegetable gardens? How long before clothes made from more than one type of fabric are banned?

This issue does involve a slippery slope, but it is not the slippery slope the ban advocates would have you believe. It is a slippery slope toward theocracy. It is a slippery slope toward the loss of individual liberty and freedom of conscience. This state must stand against this trend and tell these fundamentalists to mind their own affairs, and leave everyone else alone. Sticking one’s nose into other people’s private lives is not an American value.

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/letters/index.php?ntid=98613&ntpid=2