The Ethics of Gay Marriage

The Ethics of Gay Marriage

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The Ethics of Gay Marriage

There is a relationship between the terms ethics ' religion ' and morality ' - one that can be viewed as circular however , where the starting point on the circle lies is generally a matter of individual interpretation . People with strong religious convictions will point to the Bible , or something akin to it , as the starting point - the place from which ethics and morality are both derived - and the

deciding factor when any of the three terms are seemingly in conflict . Those who are not as strongly tied to religion will use ethics ' as the starting point when the situation requires a general assessment of circumstances and /or responsibilities (e .g . right versus wrong , good versus evil , but when a more specific assessment is required - one that must take intention and /or motivation into account in the assessment of issues of right versus wrong and /or good versus evil - the starting point is morality ' It is within this circular relationship that the debate over gay marriage is being assessed , discussed , and fought

If there truly is a point to the debate over whether or not same-sex marriage is ethical , certain elements inherent to the debate must be established : first , the need of humans to form bonds must be considered second , the need for these bonds to be recognized must be measured and third , the advantages of recognized bonds must be reviewed

The need of people to form bonds has already been firmly established Human beings are social animals who from their very beginnings have formed communities . This is evidenced by human history whether one looks at it from a scientific or a religious angle . If one is of the religious mind , one turns to the faith in which he believes for answers Using Christianity as an example , one can read the opening passages of Genesis and learn that within six days , God had created many things , and among these things , he had created Adam and Eve : a couple he then commanded to reproduce (Genesis 1 :1-28 , King James Version . Both God 's actions and His commands indicate an inherent social nature built into the beings he created : he provided Adam with a mate , and then He ed the new couple to (re )produce the first human community . If one is of a scientific mind , one needs only review humankind 's evolution to see that during any identified period of development , people formed communities From making tools , to planting crops , to acquiring language , history is filled with evidence that the evolution of humankind depended upon the formation of communities (Elgin passim

It appears that the issue of human 's needs to form bonds has been firmly established , but what about the need for these bonds to be recognized

Modern American social groupings begin small and grow larger : the individual is part of a family the family is part of a community...