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The Social Invention Of Marriage

Decent Essays

SECTION THREE The social invention of marriage has changed over time, and as discussed above, it is no longer acceptable to separate black people from white while claiming to treat them “equally”. Similar to this, we cannot claim to be treating homosexuals equally, while enforcing laws that exclude them. The progression that our country has made towards civil rights have come about simply because we are all citizens of the United States. In a society so richly entrenched in the search for and the maintenance of equality, with a specified legal separation between church and state, we cannot ethically allow laws to be enacted based on the religious beliefs of specific groups of people. So, if the definition of marriage for one group of people holds its convictions in religious or biological nature, it should not be inflicted upon all citizens. The strongest argument in this debate lies in favor of granting same-sex couples the ability to have their relationships legally recognized as a marriage, if that is what they choose. “One of the most basic principles of our society is that the government must offer all opportunities equally unless there is some good reason to do otherwise” (Rajczi, pg. 476). In keeping with our constitutional rights, opportunities and privileges such as marriage must be made available to everyone. Opponents of this argument believe that they are not excluding anyone from being married- as long as it is to a person of the opposite sex. While that

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