For some 1,600 years,
before institutional religion
co-opted it,
what made a marriage a true
marriage was consent,
from which its three benefits
flowed:
Love, Respect, Sacred Union,
Children.
Whether a couple could have
children was,
like sexual attraction,
nature's
call,
not
what makes marriage marriage.
Although same-sex couples can
have a child by adoption
and nurture the child in a
home characterized by mutual affection and respect,
they cannot beget a child of
their own.
But, that same situation often
is the case for an opposite-sex married couple
who adopt and nurture.
Neither couple can be said to
contravene the law of nature by marrying.
Given the percentage of people
for and against same-sex marriage,
more than 60 percent of our
citizens,
including Catholics,
seem to agree with what our
Western predecessors concluded
about what truly constitutes
marriage,
whether for an opposite-sex or
same-sex couple,
namely,
consent to a life together
of partners infused with
affection and respect
constitutes true marriage,
from which social benefits
flow.
From an article by Thomas M. Finn, chancellor professor of
religion (emeritus) at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg,
Va.
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