W03 Can we define something that we didn't design?

I've been reading a lot this week about the issue of same sex marriage. I took the time to read through some of the defining documents surrounding this issue, like the Supreme Court case of Obergefell vs. Hodges and the opinions of both the majority and the dissenting justices, along with listening to Ryan Anderson and Alexander Dushku, both advocates for marriage as well as religious freedom and the US Constitution in their own realms.

The evidence that defining marriage as being between a man and a woman is best for our country and it's citizens is compelling to say the least. I also need to add that in my mind, very little of this argument has anything to do with homosexuality. You could replace same sex marriage with any other variety of "marriage" that isn't monogamous between a man and a woman. The argument remains the same, which for me is figuring out what marriage actually is. My answer to this question centers around children and families. Marriage is about binding two people together for the purpose of creating children. Each parent is committed to the other and to the child, which in turn ensures that children are raised in the healthiest way possible with two invested parents. Mothers can't be fathers and fathers cannot be mothers. We are complementary to each other, coming together to create a much more powerful combination than just the sum of its parts. 

One of the things that was most insightful for me in my research was learning about the implications of redefining marriage for the future of our children and our country. What would that mean going forward? How would we prevent from legalizing all the other variants of marriage? What about polygamy? What about adults and underage children? Three people? 6? It's a slippery slope! Once we stray from one man/one woman, what principles do we have to stand on for denying anything else? 

What about our right to choose how we believe and act according to those beliefs without discrimination or fear of retribution?I fear there will come a day when I am forced to go against my core beliefs and the sanctity of what I hold most dear. I'm not sure what makes their rights supercede my own.

I am not against same sex couples having rights to property, inheritance, health insurance, etc. I don't think that those concerns are exclusive to same sex couples either. I think there are plenty of ways for us to solve these issues that do NOT include the redefining of marriage, and that is what I will continue to advocate for going forward.