Dear Ruth: It seems you can’t open the newspaper these days without seeing pictures and articles about gay marriages. People of the gay and lesbian persuasions are lobbying politicians in droves, demanding legislation that will permit gay and lesbian marriages (not to each other – I don’t think gays and lesbians want marry one another). What’s with this? Why do gays and lesbians want to marry people of their own sexual orientation, yet heterosexual couples simply want to live together, and not get married. I don’t get it. That’s why I’m writing to you.
Puzzled in Portland
Dear Puzzled: You have a right to be perplexed. I am too. That’s why I consulted the great twentieth century philosopher, songwriter and rock star, Mick Jagger, for insight. Near the beginning of his career, Jagger and Keith Richards wrote the lyrics to the popular song, “You can’t always get what you want.” Those poignant words define the frustration in the gay and lesbian communities. They WANT to marry people of their own persuasions, but darn it, the law did not make provisions for same sex marriages. So, because people tend to want what they can’t have, they demonstrate, they parade around in front of television cameras, and kiss and fondle their mates to prove that they really are gay and lesbian, and not just pretending. And because politicians will do anything to garner votes to hold on to power, they support the gay and lesbian agenda.
Their argument is: without marriage they are being cheated out of constitutional rights. If that’s the case, why don’t heterosexuals, who choose to live together outside of the traditional bonds of matrimony, just simply get married? Don’t they want equal constitutional rights too?
I suspect there’s more. They want to get married in churches, not courthouses. Churches are fancier. Courthouses are rarely adorned with lavish floral arrangements, lighted candles, and colorful stained glass windows. And many churches are losing members, so they will do anything to attract new people, and that includes promoting the gay/lesbian marriage agenda.
Alas, it is a sign of our times. Since the advent of recorded history more than 8,000 years ago, marriage has been defined as a union between a man and a woman. It was such a natural thing, no one bothered to make it a written law. But now, 8,000 years later, we’re told it’s wrong.
As Jagger says, “You can’t always get what you want,” unless you’re willing to demonstrate long enough to sway the weak-minded politicians, where votes outweigh principles.
The last stanza of Jagger’s song sums up the answer to your dilemma: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you just might find, you get what you need.”
Ruth