Column by Andrew Waldner

Dustin Lance Black’s simple and heartfelt acceptance speech was a high point of this year’s stellar Oscar ceremony. It wasn’t combative or uncouth like Sean Penn’s, just a simple statement of wanting to love someone and enjoy his own private happiness.

My turn. And I’m not trying to be sweet or kind, just logical.

I’m asking you to put aside your religious beliefs or your bigotry or anything else and look at this as a citizen of the United States. This is not about your beliefs or morals, it’s about legality and rights.

The United States, as with most everywhere in the Western Hemisphere, was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Does this mean we celebrate the Eucharist or Passover as a nation? No. It means we praise “good” behavior and punish “bad” behavior in a way that mostly lines up with ideas that Jesus celebrated. Were our Founding Fathers religious men? In some cases, yes, but they came to this world to escape political and religious tyranny that had been the norm in Europe. They came here to celebrate the individual and to avoid this intolerance.

The Constitution, besides establishing our government and its power, guarantees people can live without fear of oppression by their government or by any one group. Without adversely affecting themselves or their fellow man in any tangible way, Americans were meant to be able to live out their private lives and expect equal protection under the law. It doesn’t quite give a right to privacy, but the intent to protect both majority and minority is obvious.

So, no, we were not founded as a Christian nation, regardless of what you think. In fact, the separation of church and state clause specifically rebukes this.

I want to address an issue that I’ve long been somewhat indifferent to: gay marriage. I do think it’s sick that most people take for granted a right that some don’t even have, but I’ve let it be. I was confident in the knowledge that eventually someone, whether people or a court, would understand that there’s just no basis to deny it to one group of people. It’s hard to feel indifferent like that anymore. It’s become an issue that it shouldn’t be. It’s evolved to a place where most people are just ignorant of what it means or would ignore the Constitution in favor of the Bible. This is not a bad thing, your beliefs are your own, but the Bible is not the law of our land.

I’m not discussing the “sacrament” of marriage at all. The religious aspect is absolutely separate from the documents you sign to secure your rights as a couple. When you get married in a church and in the eyes of God, it is a sacrament. I have supreme respect for that and for the right of any church to choose who can or cannot get married. Those are your beliefs and the Constitution protects those absolutely.

What I do not have respect for is the religious right’s manipulative and disgusting quest to deny fellow human beings this type of contract. You have every right to deny gays from marrying in your churches. You can even hate them. I gladly support your freedom to do so because I have so much respect for the founding principles of our nation.

But what right do you have to deny the legal contract of marriage? The one that allows two consenting adults to combine and protect their lives and assets. Legal red tape. Equal protection. In all reality, you specifically do not have the right to deny this, as is spelled out in multiple ways in our Constitution that are all widely known.

If you and your God want to condemn others to the darkest circles of hell, feel free to do so. Don’t, however, think you can deny them a perfectly legal contract that helps protect them and their loved ones.

This ability does not infringe on your rights or your religious liberty in any way, as some evangelicals have inexplicably surmised. This is not the government “imposing” the beliefs of a minority on the majority, because it does not affect their lives or have anything to do with them. It’s about extending the rights and legal abilities of that majority to everyone, not just those with the loudest voices. Your life will not change one single bit. At the same time, millions of others will be happier. What tangible, legal or constitutional reason do you have to prevent others from signing the same contracts and legal papers that you do?

Don’t feed me the nonsense about a “homosexual agenda,” or that this ability would somehow belittle your marriage or infringe upon your rights. You know, deep within your soul, that it’s total and utter nonsense. I’m not being totalitarian in my beliefs, I’m just being logical. Despite what you may have spent years convincing yourself or being convinced of by others, you know a perfect stranger’s private happiness won’t adversely affect yours.  It’s ridiculous and impossible. If it does, then you either don’t understand our Constitution or are at odds with it.

All the issue requires is a respect for your Constitution and a respect for the spirit of your country and the ideals it was founded on. Those essential freedoms in the Bill of Rights are at stake here, and it is not up to you or your religious beliefs to deny them. You may answer to a higher power, but as far as governance and legality is concerned, there is no higher power than the Constitution.