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Equality of access, treatment and mutual respect needed

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GOTTA LOVE IT

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Declaration of Independence of the United States 1776 AD

And Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at Him.

Mark 12:17 (NASB) Circa 76 AD

According to the Government Accountability Office there are more than 1,100 federal laws that apply to married couples. The right to file a joint federal tax return and the right to transfer assets without incurring taxes, including estate and gift taxes are among the most significant.

Other rights and privileges reserved for married couples include provisions related to health insurance, Social Security survivor benefits, immigration and a myriad of veterans' and military benefits. Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress in 1996 and signed by President Bill Clinton, defines marriage for federal purposes as being between a man and a woman. This provision was ruled unconstitutional in July, 2010 and is the subject of additional appeals which likely will result in a definitive opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States.

In Delaware, Senate Bill 30 was filed last week by Sen. David P. Sokola and Rep. Melanie George.

According to media coverage, approval of this legislation would put same-sex couples on equal footing with married couples in most respects, granting partners the same rights in medical decisions, parenting, and access to health and death benefits.

S.B. 30 has the support of Gov. Jack Markell as well as over two dozen legislators and is similar in scope and language to initiatives which have been adopted in other states.

Cosponsor George, at the bill's unveiling, likened the current situation to an insurance company's amusing TV commercial, where a man offers a little girl an ice cream cone, then gives it to a little boy passing by instead.

Problem is, if S.B. 30 becomes law, it will be like being offered an ice cream cone with jimmies sprinkled on it, and then being told you can only lick off the jimmies and can't eat the ice cream.

Bad enough to not get the cone, worse still to get a taste and be left hungering for more.

The benefits of the civil unions which would be recognized would only apply to Delaware laws and regulations. There would still be a double standard with the state extending rights and privileges which would remain unavailable under existing federal law. Even supporters of S.B. 30 acknowledge the "half a loaf' aspect of the civil union measure.

Marriage has always existed in the realm of the secular and the spiritual. In the 12th century when civil authority was exercised by the Roman Catholic Church, the pope decreed that marriage, which was a civil custom, was sacramental, meaning that it has its origins in the Bible and in the words and deeds of Christ.

After the Reformation, Protestants rejected the church's view, but continue to refer to marriage as being sacramental in the sense that a good marriage is an outward sign of inner grace.

In addition to the Christian tradition, virtually all faith-based cultures ascribe spiritual qualities to marriage.

Adam and Eve aside, anthropologists surmise that marriage developed as a secular concept for temporal association and benefit.

As religions developed, they co-opted and adapted the marriage into the contemporary notion of a spiritual contract that is granted privileged secular status.

From the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution and the First Amendment, among the guiding principles of this nation has been equality under the law, and a prohibition against governing from a religious standard, thus ensuring religious freedom.

Let's stop trying to fit round pegs into square holes. Instead of consigning a portion of our population to a separate but unequal designation of civil union, introduce legislation to substitute "civil union" wherever married or marriage appears any - where in federal or state code.

Define civil union as a lega1 contract between any two other-wise nonrelated individuals or similar language. A marriage, performed in a religious setting, would also be acknowledged as a civil union Equality of access, equality of treatment and mutual respect. God and Caesar should expect nothing less from us. And we will be amazed.

Bob Love has been a reporter for community newspapers and a campaign strategist for local, state and federal candidates. He is a former planning board member and charter school board president. Reach Love at ralove.cg@gmail.com.





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