Louis J. Marinelli once loudly and vehemently opposed gays and lesbians from having the right to marry. He opposed it so strongly that he, according to his own blog, organized the 2010 Summer for Marriage Tour for the National Organization for Marriage. He organized rallies and started Facebook groups. Then something happened, Marinelli had a change of heart.
Wedding Ring - Eivind Barstad Waaler (CC)
He realized over time that he supported civil marriage equality. He realized that gays and lesbians were not out to destroy American culture, they were just real people who wanted the same rights to participate in it as the rest of us. I commend him for having the courage to stand up to those he once supported, and to apologize to those he once attacked. I also commend him for commenting on the difference between civil marriage and holy matrimony.
He summed it up clearly and eloquently by saying “Once you understand the great difference between civil marriage and holy marriage, there is not one valid reason to forbid the former from same-sex couples, and all that is left to protect is the latter.”
Some may challenge Marinelli’s right to continue to call himself a conservative, but I consider myself a conservative and I agree with him. Being conservative is not a matter of religion, and those that see that it is have hijacked the term for their own use. Being conservative is also not a matter of discrimination, bigotry, or denying individuals their right to equality under law.
Arguments against civil marriage equality are impossible to make without religion entering the argument. If religion is the only basis for the argument, then a little thing called the First Amendment comes into play. Our government has no right to deny civil equality of any kind based only on religious arguments. People are guarantee the freedom of religion, but they are also guaranteed freedom from religion.
Marinelli had a change of heart, but it will take a lot more hearts to change before there is any chance of national civil marriage equality, especially if you take into account recent polls in Mississippi about GOP voters’ views on interracial marriage, marriage equality still has a long way to go.
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