We live in a free country. For the most part, as long as you're not hurting someone else or his or her property, you can do whatever you like. Your rights as a U.S. citizen are outlined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as additional rights that may be outlined in your state constitution, and other federal and state laws.

This means that we have the freedom to say whatever we want, and express our opinions to anyone we like. They don't have to listen, because they are also free to turn away. We can move about freely, change jobs at will, choose our education, etc. All of this is free for us to decide. That is one of the great things about this country; Freedom.

Freedom works both ways though. Freedom means that someone else has the right to oppose you. The WBC (Westboro Baptist Church) has the right to protest with signs that say "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" right next to a funeral procession if they please. Anti-Abortion protestors have the right to stand outside abortion clinics with enlarged photos of destroyed fetuses, and shout hateful things at women entering the clinic to have an abortion performed. Scientologists have the right to believe and preach that all pain and suffering is in your head, and that you don't need modern medicine to treat sickness and disease.

They all have the right to do those things. While I do not support their causes, I do support their basic right to hold those opinions and put them out there for other people to hear. The WBC makes me sick, but they have the right to do that.

A recent issue relating to freedom in my own state, Florida, has been on my mind lately. Proposition 2 was a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution that would limit the definition of marriage to one man and one woman. It passed, with 62% in favor and 38% against it.

Now, you should be thinking, "Didn't Florida already have laws that made gay marriage illegal?” The answer is yes. Stopping Proposition 2 would not have legalized gay marriage in Florida. Nothing in the education system would have changed either. However, since Proposition 2 did pass, it will now be much harder to legalize gay marriage in the future.

That brings me to the point of this post. Is gay marriage an issue that should even be in the legal system? The first constitutional amendment reads:

            "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

There are two parts of this amendment that relate directly to gay marriage. I'll explain why in a minute.

 "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

"...or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Now, it is important to note that the U.S. Constitution is one our most important legal documents. It is virtually the highest authority in our legal system.

The first point, about making no law respecting an establishment of religion; Gay marriage is a religious issue, not a secular issue. Now, I don't mean to say that only secular people want gay marriage legalized. What I mean to say is that our government is secular, and that it needs to stay that way. We cannot allow religious beliefs into our legal system. If you start accepting laws based on religious beliefs from one religion, you must allow laws into the legal system from all religions. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair and unbiased.

I'm taking a little sidetrack here, but I feel that it is necessary to prove that gay marriage is purely a religious issue. I'll use Christianity as an example. We have certain laws in our society that match up with many of Christianity's basic tenets. Murder, rape, stealing, and evading taxes are all condemned in the Bible as well as U.S. law. However, these laws are not based on the Bible. These laws are based upon the practical belief that it is unproductive to murder your fellow man, rape a woman (or a child, or even a grown man), steal (its bad for the economy), and evade taxes. They are secular laws. If they were based upon religious beliefs, they would violate the Constitution, and therefore be illegal themselves. The point I am trying to make is that laws cannot be based upon religious beliefs. There must be some practical reason to make something illegal.

This brings me to the second part of amendment 1 that I highlighted, about the people having the right to petition the government to fix something they feel is wrong. This right does not override the previous part of the amendment. The Government is still prohibited from making laws that respect any religion, regardless of how strongly the people may feel.

Is gay marriage a secular (practical) issue? Is there some evidence showing that gay couples are detrimental to society. The Bible (or any other religious text) doesn't count as evidence, since there is no way to absolutely prove that it is true. Scientific studies with control points and reliable data are necessary to prove that. Perhaps gay couples have a higher rate of HIV than straight couples (this is hearsay, I am just thinking to myself), but the gay community is trying to improve that statistic by spreading awareness of safe-sex practices. Many parents are afraid that if gay marriage is legalized and considered a normal part of society, it will warp their child's mind and affect them negatively somehow.

Only time and scientific studies will show us if children are affected by the acceptance of gay couples as a normal part of society. However, even if studies do show that children are affected (more likely to be homosexual), we then must ask ourselves if that is a problem. I’ve already stated that laws cannot be made that only respect religious beliefs, and that you have to prove that there is a secular issue. The fact that the Bible calls homosexuality an “abomination” (Leviticus 18:22) is not enough, because you cannot impose what is supposedly the word of God on everyone else in the country.

When confronted with this, a lot of conservatives backtrack and say something like, “Well, I know we can’t stop them from having a relationship. I just don’t want them to be allowed to get married.”

Once again, our government is secular. There must be a secular issue with gay marriage, but as far as I am aware, there is nothing concrete.

It is for these reasons that I voted “No” on Proposition 2. I am disgusted that it passed with so much popular support. Prejudice is obviously still a major problem in our society, no matter how far beyond such simple things we think we are.