The right to individual freedom is among the most important human rights. However, this right does not exist without restriction; hence, it must be wisely applied. Many instances of people denying others their liberties can be cited, for example the American Civil War. In this war, the government attempted to prevent slavery from being a way of life because it believed that the protection of liberty was not for its white citizens only, but also for black citizens. Another instance can be seen in current times, when the United States Court of Appeals decided the case of Lawrence v. Texas (2003), where two men were found guilty of homosexual behavior. The decision by the court was to reverse the antisodomy statute in Texas, which makes it against the law for two men to have sexual intercourse with each other. These are just some of the cases where human rights regarding sexual liberty have been violated.
As a result, this paper will examine the different views on the subject of sexual rights from the religious and secular points of views, and will conclude by proposing a plan which will solve the conflict between religious and secular views of sexual rights and human rights.
The Current Situation
In the United States, there are a number of groups that support the cause of human rights, and believe that people should exercise their rights as long as they are not harming the rights of others. However, these groups are usually faced by fundamentalist Christians. The fundamentalists believe that people should not exercise their right to have gay sex, because it is a sin. They also believe that people should not have sex outside marriage. Many times, the arguments of the fundamentalists have succeeded in convincing lawmakers to prevent people from exercising their right to sexual freedom. For instance, when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 5-4 decision that the state of California could not impose a waiting period before couples could get a marriage license (Casey v. Planned Parenthood of Penn. 1992), those who oppose this ruling termed the decision as “degrading to traditional marriage.” For example, Mrs. Nancy M. Drew, one of the lawyers of the National Legal Foundations who opposed this decision said, “this ruling is a perfect example of how far the liberal Supreme Court will go to degrade traditional marriage. The concept of marital procreation and family responsibility is clearly defined by the sacred constitution of the United States, and this ruling has made it clear that such should be respected.”
On the other hand, groups who support the issue of human rights maintain that people should be given liberty to do what they want in terms of their sex lives. One such organization is the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which was founded in 1980. Its main goal is to make sure that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans enjoy equal human rights. To achieve this objective, the HRC has various projects, which include an HIV initiative, which aims at raising awareness about the disease; an international initiative that focuses on human rights issues for LGBT in the United States, and an office dedicated to educational activities. The organization has been very instrumental in fighting for the rights of lesbians and gays. It was able to raise a lot of money to fight the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that was signed into law in 1996. This act defined marriage as being a union between a man and a woman and prohibited any form of gay marriage.
The Role of Religious Beliefs in the Debate
This debate on whether people should be allowed to have sex without repercussions is about to be ended once and for all. The State legislature in Florida is introducing a constitutional amendment, which will ban gay marriage and civil unions in the state. This vote, which is likely to take place in November, will be the final decision in the matter. The argument between those who support gay marriage and those who do not seems to be getting out of hand, and it is of no surprise to anyone why they get so much attention in the media.
However, it is also not surprising to note that both sides of this debate give very strong religious arguments to either support or oppose gay marriage. For instance, the religious-right-wing, led by organizations such as Focus on the Family, is quick to proclaim to the world that LGBT practices are contrary to biblical teaching and go against the will of God, and are thus wrong (Nash). This group believes that homosexuals should not marry, even if it means they are denied their rights as human beings, and that such a practice would result in the destruction of our society. In their opinion, if the United States allows gay marriage, then people would get used to it and more things will start to make no sense. This is because they see gay marriage as an abomination in the eyes of God, and because they see anhthing unnatural as being evil. They even go ahead to assert that any homosexual couple that gets married is asking to be punished by God.
The above statement by a member of this group might be interpreted to mean that the group feels that God is real and should be given power. This group bases its viewpoint on the belief in God and its teachings. In addition, this belief can be said to be a major determinant for the group’s stance on the issue. This is because the people in this group read the Bible and believe in its teachings. This is evident because the group’s website is designed such that it uses quotes from the Bible to show the error in homosexuality, and that the Bible, which is God’s word, defines marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. The belief is so strong that this group seems to forget that many of these people have been so influenced that they do not even understand that God did not create gay people, but created everyone with different gifts.
On the other hand, those who believe in humajn rights and the fight for liberty seem to base their views on human rights and the belief in equality. While this group argues that everyone deserves to exercise their rights, it appears that some of them have strayed from the main issue. In fact, the case against those who deny some people the right to marry whoever they want seems to be weak. For example, it is apparent that those who are against gay marriage have no evidence to prove that homosexuality is harmful, and even those who have argued for the continuation of same-sex unions have not had strong arguments to either support or oppose gay marriage. For example, the proponents of same-sex marriage have had to resort to saying that they do not know the harm, because they have not experienced gay sex, and that they cannot be expected to oppose something that they have no knowledge about. In their defense, it can be seen that there is no link that can be established between gay sex and harm. However, it can be argued that the right to have sex is an individual choice, and that people have a right to choose who they want to be with.
Conclusion
Religion has always been a source of controversy in the political world. Politics are always divided into two categories, religion and politics. In this way, religion has an important role to play in the politics of a country. Even though this debate on gay marriage is not really of great consequence in the religious world, it is a good example of how religious beliefs can influence the political sphere in a country.
This conflict began over the decision by the Supreme Court to rule out the ban on homosexual marriage. This decision caused great consternation in the religious world because of its wide impact on the religious landscape. This is because a majority of the American public is conservative, and are mostly Christians. Therefore, when the court ruled against the ban, it was a direct challenge to the American public, which is evident by the large number of letters from pastors and other church officials across the country opposing this decision.
The reason why the Christian community is so up in arms over this decision is that the issue of gay marriage has been a hot-button issue for a long time. Even though there is no agreement over the issue, it can be said that in many cases, people oppose gay marriage because it is an abomination in the eyes of God. They believe that God made man and woman to be together, and thus, when a man wants to marry another man, they feel that it is wrong because he is not being submissive to God. They even go further to say that God made the first two men and women to marry each other, and those who want to marry a man because he is nice are being disobedient to God. In addition, the Christian community believes that the gays are just a minority group who have become lazy and have decided to “choose” to be gay. It can therefore be said that gay marriage has been an extremely controversial issue for a long time, and many churches have taken a stand against it for a long time. This is evident by the fact that they have refused to perform weddings for gay couples.
Therefore, the issue of gay marriage has become a major topic of discussion between politicians, the church and the people. From the case mentioned above, it can be seen that all parties involved have a stake in this issue. The most important thing is that gay marriage is not a decision that has to be made by the government. It is a decision that can be made by the church and the individuals.