Here's That "Gay" Thing Again!

Hmmmm, an enticing argument: Gay marriage. If you could not tell, my critique is a retort to Mr. Toohey’s commentary on gay marriage. Although I agree that marriage should be recognized in all states, I disagree deeply with Toohey’s statement that marriage should be between a man and a woman because the Bible "says so." I also disagree, with proof to follow, that being gay is “a choice.” Let's go back to before the founder fathers--whom, by the way, were Deists and quite unlike today’s Christians. They believed that black people had no souls. Woman were not much to them, either. Women were kind of a “side note” to men. Woman's purpose was to make babies and upkeep the home. However, we can travel back in time even further to a place much more accepting of the gay culture.
Once upon a time, in a land not far away, gay marriage occurred within the ancient religious sects of Judaism. These people and their sects were labeled by the church "Backsliders," because they kept returning to their original form of worship, which was the worship of "Goddess" and her sacred son and daughter. These sacred ceremonies were passed down by their "founding fathers" and practiced regularly up until the time of the Yahwists. Ceremonies between two men and two women go back in history further than Toohey's idea of “traditional marriage.” The ancient Essenians were the dominating sect that practiced gay-marriage, among other sacred ceremonies. Ancient Judaism is just one “place” out of thousands you can research and discover within it a world of lesbianism and homosexuality. Archeologists and Scholars are finding more and more evidence that gays have been around, and in some cultures revered, for a very long time. History is filled with the essence, worship and struggles of gays. In addition, though gay interactions may not appear to be (by some) occurring often in our human world today, they do occur, regularly, in the animal kingdom. Many of those interactions become lifelong relationships, as do their human counterparts.
As our colleague Mollie stated: the Bible has been “mis-interpreted” time and time agian. Toohey states that he does not hate gays, yet he believes they should not be allowed to celebrate there love with divine intention and infusion. Well, he seems to believe that being gay is a choice, too. Yup, I caught that! Though he says “lifestyle” to follow, his first choice of wording is “choice.” Is it a choice for a man to love a woman? No, it is not a choice but it is a feeling. Love is a deep sense of acknowledgment, reverence, and intimacy. Love is not a “choice.” Pick up any psychology book, any study done in the last 10 years and you'll find a treat! Being gay is not a choice. Scientists today are finding more and more evidence pointing towards hormone activity in-utero. The current studies suggest a possible “bath” in hormones during the embryonic stage of development. Some babies are bathed predominantly in either testosterone or estrogen. If a girl baby is bathed more heavily in testosterone, scientists have found it will contribute greatly to her sexual leaning towards other girls, and to the masculinization of her brain. The same applies to boys, if bathed heavily in estrogen. These are the latest theories, and experiments (on rats) being done to discover when sexual orientation is formed and how. However, even if life experiences bring a person to a certain sexual leaning I do not believe it is our place to judge. These are very personal matters that should never have been made so public, but are forced into the media and politics because of narrow minds and closed hearts. Much of this ignorance stems from those who consistently refer to the Bible as a discriminatory cudgel. A cudgel used to separate the masses and keep them battling over centuries.
The controversy of the Bible and its writers still goes on today, while the world continues to evolve passed much of its original discrimination. Re-written over 43 times, and by people who did not practiced the same religion of the characters within the Bible, Scholars and holy-men alike continue to battle out what is real and what is fiction within the seemingly coded pages of this document. Much of it was written to oppress the "pagan" or peasant people of the time, who tended to worship what they called the Goddess, and later, when the Bible became more prominent, continued to worship in secrecy the three Mary's of the Bible. Research the Cathars or Knights Templar. The Inquisition, unfortunately, wiped most of them and their "peace-loving" ways out. Let's move forward to the age of Constantine. We'll skip over "St." Augustine, because he is just a whole other blog!
Constantine and his “merry band of men” threw into the Bible a great deal of significant changes. Many scholars and priests are still uncertain today which portions were written by him and his men. Other portions were written by the Yahwists (they composed the Pentateuch) at around 400AD. Of course, many portions were re-written and manipulated to serve Constantine’s will. He sought to settle a fued between warring religious “tribes” in order to gain more land, and with the land, more power. Regardless of this, the Yahwists had a specific agenda, as did Constantine: power, not love.
But, this is what I am really talking about when I speak of true marriage; Love, and a celebration of that love. Not the ability to procreate or what a book and its authors say a divine union should be. Not a history fraught with violence, prejudice and small minds working solely for individual benefit. I am talking about a movement of grace within the individual and nurtured by something divine between the two involved. It is a movement that cannot be defined and is constantly being challenged by convention because it appears unconventional by America and some other countries’ standards. The love between same-sex couples is just as real, spiritual and awesome as the love between heterosexual couples. You might be amazed, Toohey. Spend some time with a genuine gay couple who have been together for a while. It just might change your mind about gays and their powerful love. The social (family and workplace), and individual benefits that could arise from these realizations and improvements might just be wonderful. Allowing gays to marry (adopt, serve in military, have sex, be protected under law) would create a unity and understanding that may have the power to erase the ill treatment directed towards gays. Maybe even the education system would respond and fewer children would have to suffer the teasing and torment I had growing up.
These unprecedented improvements are real. One can only oppress a people so long before they rebel. Well, that's already happened; Stonewall is a great example of a revolt. On another note, I had my first crush on someone of the same sex when I was 7...lifestyle choice? Please, do not decide on such an intimate issue you have never lived. It is invasive and unjustified. Marriage is such a personal matter, it is insulting to us when it is made public and scrutinized so heavily by those who are not gay or have little understanding as to what being gay really is, and means. No one is asking those opposing gay marriage to marry a gay! We just want the same rights and freedoms as our heterosexual neighbors.
I highly recommend Toohey do some thorough research on gays, gay marriage and the Bible before making such bold assumptions about "choice", influence and the reality of gays in history. Who would choose to be gay in a world that, overall, does not like us? Some even hate us enough to murder us. I think if Mr. Toohey can support his opinion with more facts and less intrapersonal gusto, he may better sway his readers. Also, it will give me an excuse to write another critique! On a more serious note, studies have been done on the theory of gays being shaped by their environment, and are still inconclusive today. Scientists cannot find enough evidence that gays are shaped by their environment and events therein, as too many of them had a wonderful up-bringing in what society views as a perfectly "normal" household. Please, do us gays a favor, and stop making heady assumptions about gays, and stating them as truths. In regards to Toohey's second posting on gays: Not everyone believes we are "born into sin." Statistics today show that less and less people are calling themselves "religious" because they refuse to believe in the dogma of the church, and are seeking a more positive, encompassing way to live. So, perhaps your "God" said "we were born into sin" but, many peoples "God", today, would never say such a thing.