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I must admit that I can admire Josh Dodd’s devotion to his

Christian beliefs, but that doesn’t change the fact that marriage

is a state institution as well as a religious institution.  After

all, you can get married in a church by a minister for the whole

world to see, but until you sign that marriage license, the state

still thinks you’re single. 

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 In fact, it’s commonplace to get married without a church or a

minister.  A justice of the peace can perform marriages in a

courthouse, and even I could take an online course and perform

marriages.  

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As soon as the government made a marriage license, marriage was

opened up to all citizens.  It doesn’t matter what religion, if

any, a person believes.  A homosexual Pastafarian has as much right

to marry as a straight Baptist.  Religious marriage and marriage in

the eyes of the government are two separate things which are not to

be confused.

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One simple sentence you might remember from grade school social

studies might clear things up:  “Congress shall make no law

respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free

exercise thereof.”  That’s the first sentence of the First

Amendment.  In fact, a direct reading of that declares it

impossible to ban gay marriage based on Christian beliefs.  If

Congress cannot make a law respecting any particular religion, then

how can Christian ideals keep homosexuals from marrying?