CIVIL MARRIAGE
Letter to the Boston Metro, appeared Thursday, 2/19/04:
Dear Metro,
It seems that many
people are having a hard time distinguishing between civil marriage
and religious
marriage. Civil marriage is a legal contract issued by the State that gives
those who sign on legal rights and responsibilities (350 from the state of Massachusetts,
1049 from the federal government). Religious marriage is what you do in the
privacy of
your own church, temple, synagogue or mosque. Religious and civil marriage are
not the
same. Some religions marry same-sex couples, some do not. This choice is left
to each
religion. But no religion, not even the majority religion, has the right to
impose its views
on everyone. Remember that expression: "the separation of church and state"?
Seems like the
anti-marriage folks have the idea that there is only so much marriage
to go around, and that giving marriage to same-sex couples will somehow leave
less
marriage available to other-sex couples. Not true. My sweetheart and I have
been
together now for seven years. We love each other very much and we are getting
married on May 20th. Please help us defend our right to remain married. Separate
is
not equal. Please oppose any constitutional amendment.
Robyn Ochs