tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1440421529782470542.post5346572143535607039..comments2020-05-28T03:43:16.264-07:00Comments on Soulfarer: Disagreeing with Rachel Held Evans, but loving her anywayMike McNicholshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16718438960132101615noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1440421529782470542.post-81559541967938885232012-09-09T07:06:42.472-07:002012-09-09T07:06:42.472-07:00Brian, I would also add that the pursuing of the p...Brian, I would also add that the pursuing of the prerequisites for certain acts are, in our society, the real rights. We have the right to request to be registered as voters, to ask that a relationship be deemed a marriage, or to seek to have our name placed on a ballot to run for President. We don't necessarily have a right to the outcomes. Those outcomes are not universally available nor are they guaranteed.<br />Mike McNicholshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16718438960132101615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1440421529782470542.post-67045991894261247332012-09-09T07:03:17.914-07:002012-09-09T07:03:17.914-07:00Brian - you're certainly correct about the iss...Brian - you're certainly correct about the issue of law. However, marriage is not an individual action that bears the weight of itself in isolation; it is a relationship that impacts, potentially, many other people, including the community in which it exists. I would add to Howard's comment that marriage falls into the category of covenant, moving even beyond the legal framework of contract. Does the Supreme Court's determination of marriage as a civil right alter the character of marriage at its essence? In a society grounded in the perception of individual rights, it should be no surprise to us when claims to "rights" are made on almost all demands for change.Mike McNicholshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16718438960132101615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1440421529782470542.post-58551423276877360162012-09-08T20:25:15.658-07:002012-09-08T20:25:15.658-07:00Mike - it is a rare day when I disagree with someo...Mike - it is a rare day when I disagree with someone as right on as you, but...<br /><br />The Supreme Court has said that marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man" and that marriage is "more than a contract... giving character to our whole civil polity". The liberty associated with a civil act is not diminished because it comes with prerequisites. For example, I have the right to vote because I meet the voting requirements established by law and if I were convicted of a felony or renounced my citizenship, I'd lose that right. <br /><br />When the state says someone can't get married it denies, without due process, the benefits and rights associated with marriage. Like mixed-race marriage, the Constitutional question of same-sex marriage is whether it violates the principals of equality found in the 14th Amendment. I believe this is what makes same same-sex marriage, no matter how you fall on the issue, a question of civil rights.<br /><br />Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07160079643977644903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1440421529782470542.post-33538910518342551502012-09-08T17:58:59.219-07:002012-09-08T17:58:59.219-07:00Marriage is more of a contract than it is a right....Marriage is more of a contract than it is a right. The two parties in the contract take on mutual obligations and agree to share benefits. The state has played a role in determining how the contract is established. I do think the state should play a role in establishing the benefits and obligations of civil unions. What's interesting is that in places where homosexual marriage is permitted legally, there has been an initial spate of weddings, and then the rate of marriage declines. Howard Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05988855686971725050noreply@blogger.com