The "Sanctity" of Marriage

I have lost faith in the institution of marriage.

Hear me out here.

I am married to the most amazing man I've ever known.  We are happy.  Our marriage is one that others dream about having.  He's my best friend.

I have lost faith in what marriage has become.

I have faith in my marriage, but not so much in marriage as a whole.

Why? 

Well, it's not because of gay marriage.  I'm all for allowing every one to get married.  It doesn't threaten my marriage one bit. 

Know what is the biggest threat to my marriage? 

Divorce.

Yep.

I'm not judging anyone for getting a divorce.  I've advised friends to seek a divorce, in fact, due to circumstances that were terrible.  I am, however, going to point out that opponents of gay marriage who base their argument on this idealized version of the sanctity of marriage that is in their heads are inconsistent, illogical, and flat-out hypocrites if they are OK with on-demand divorce, premarital sex, cohabitation, or any other thing that violates the sanctity of marriage in God's eyes. 

Let me simplify-- unless you oppose all forms of marital immorality mentioned in the Bible, and you are against them on principal, you are a hypocrite if you base your desire for gay people not to marry on that argument. 

If you think that gay marriage violates God's word, and you are a staunch opponent for that reason, I certainly hope that you were a virgin when you got married, never lived together, have never been divorced for a non-Biblically approved reason, and have never committed adultery.  These aren't that hard to do, and I know many who actually uphold their beliefs with their actions.  I respect their beliefs, since they chose the narrow road.

It always gets to me that people I know who are promiscuous call being gay a sin, a lifestyle choice of sin, etc. and never realize that what they do is considered the same by that set of morals.

Allow me to tarnish your strange, anachronistic idea of marriage as this bastion of holiness and Godliness by pointing out a more harmful trend in American society--

1975 Cher and Gregg Allman , 9 days

1982 Zsa Zsa Gabor and Felipe De Alba, 1 day

1994 Jeremy Thomas and Drew Barrymore, 29 days

1998 Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra, 9 days

2004 Jason Allen Alexander and Britney Spears, 55 hours

2005 Kenny Chesney and Renee Zellweger, 4 months (annulled)

2011 Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian, 72 days

Any of Elizabeth Taylor's marriages (there were eight, I believe).  

and of course anything from any of the following franchises:

Celebrity culture and the Christian response to it, which has largely been to buy in and become as engaged and as obsessed as the secular world, is doing far more damage to the family unit than gay marriage ever could.

I mean, you are literally talking about the difference between being completely calloused to the tearing apart of sacred bonds as compared to the joining together of people who love each other and want to create a new family unit.   It's okaying destruction while eschewing creation.  That is a major sign that there is a problem. 

When I see the same Christians who say that gay marriage is unbiblical turn right around and discuss who they hope The Bachelor will choose, it makes me want to poke out my eyes with a spoon.  OK, that's melodramatic, for my gay friends!  Holla!  But it does at least elicit an eye roll.  Come on people.  It's obvious.

So, know that if you aren't all in on the sanctity of marriage, you may want to change your argument against gay marriage from "It's against God's will," to "I have other reasons, which may include I am sort of generally grossed out by things like this and don't know how to talk about it."  There are other perfectly valid reasons that I respect as well, but I disagree with them all. 

Just remember, if you don't want to be a hypocrite, make sure you are really acting the way that you believe.  Otherwise, you may just want to back off, show grace, and possibly give some civil rights to people with which you disagree.

Turn off The Bachelor*.  Put down People Magazine**.  Live up to what you believe.  Or don't, in which case, you will end up coming off like a jerk to people around you.  That's an option, too.  Just don't be shocked when someone calls you out about it.  

  *never watched it
**like to read it so I feel better about myself in a bathing suit, and yes, it's a guilty pleasure that I am working on in myself.