Speaking Out

A couple weeks ago, my Effective Speech class was given the assignment of delivering a persuasive speech. The objective of this speech was to persuade someone to change their look on subject or to make them see two sides to a story. Some chose to give speeches on why school year round is bad, or why one sports team is simply better than another.

Surprisingly some students chose controversial topics to speak about such as stances on pro-abortion and gay marriage. Because of this I decided to also speak on a controversial topic, wanting to show my insight and my stance on these topics. My initial intention was to speak out against abortion, but when someone else chose that topic, I decided to choose another.

The topic I chose to speak about was Anti-Gay Marriage. This was a something that many Christians have fought against ever since five of our fifty states passed laws that allowed two persons of the same-sex to get married. I felt that I should speak out about my stance on it because many of my classmates are in favor of gay marriage. I feel that as Christians and as Catholics in particular, we should be able to teach others about our faith not just by our words but also by our actions. Please feel free to read my speech below-

The United States Constitution, the supreme law of the land, is decorated with laws and regulations with which our government runs our nation with all due respect to the people. Over the years, certain states of our country have endorsed and promoted questionable and controversial laws that not only are immoral and illogical but also fog the lens of our country’s law-makers, forcing them to blindly pass laws that destroy the sanctity of human life and the reason why we are here.

The definition of marriage in the Merriam-Webster dictionary states that marriage “is the binding of one man and one woman to each other in a consensual as well as contractual relationship both in the eyes of the state and in the eyes of God.” New York’s Cardinal-Elect Timothy Dolan recent blog post from May 2011 states, “Marriage is at the very core of civilization.” By this simple statement, Cardinal-Elect Dolan is implying that with out the essence of man and woman uniting together in a pro-creative act of sexual intercourse within the confines of marriage, there would be no hope for mankind. Without man and woman combining their naturally separate and uniquely different bodies we would cease to exist as a city, as a country and as an entire world. There are countless individuals however, who fail to see this point.

Fairly recently, five of our fifty states have passed laws allowing this beautiful unification of man and woman to also be open to either two men or two women. According to Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver of the New Jersey Senate, “ the passing of this law is seen as the third and final leg of the civil rights movement, initially started by Martin Luther King Jr. as a means to bring social and political equality to the African-American race. “

Please don’t take my remarks here as a sign that I am anti-gay or hateful towards the lesbian/gay/transgender community. I realize that many people simply are born with attractions toward the same sex and this is a very difficult and often times tormenting state in which to exist without the freedom to express their unique sexual identity. However, those people who claim a sexual orientation that is anything other than heterosexual are not able to naturally bear children for which the union and sanctity of marriage was created.

Am I saying that those in the gay and lesbian community can’t live together and enjoy the benefits of friendly companionship and the care of family for one another? No, I am not. But I am saying that the legal benefits that come with marriage should be reserved for those of the opposite sex. Marriage should involve one man and one woman only.
Gay Marriage has a surprising effect on children. Marriage more times than not involves reproduction. A man and woman create a human life and give it the opportunity to grow and develop in the world. The gift of life enables the new born to discern the many aspects of life such as emotions, triumphs and struggles and ultimately the meaning of life. Without man and woman, none of this would be possible. With two men or two women, a child would be deprived of having a true father or mother figure in their life. As a result of gay marriage, children in same-gender relationships often experience social marginalization, ridicule and harassment. This is not to say that children reproduced from heterosexual relationships are not teased too, but it would be more prevalent in a homosexual relationship.

To clarify my stance on this subject, I agree that people who feel attracted to the same sex are not bad people. These feelings a person has, he or she is simply born with. I totally understand that concept. However, I also understand that even though you as a person with these feelings, should not be able to flaunt your sexual identity. I believe that even though people are sexually attracted to others, he or she should not be able to act on it. Perhaps the lawmakers of our country will realize the importance of morality over desire. A desire or a want can sometimes be transferred into an immoral act, sometimes depriving us from the ability to discern what is right.

Our society is taught that nowadays “if you truly want something, you have the right to strive for it.” However, taking a religious point of view, it is okay to live a chaste life. Just because you feel attracted to the same sex, these feelings shouldn’t force you to make the decision to act on it. We need to realize that chastity and purity, which are two fading ideas in our world, are very important considering how many people obtain sexually transmitted diseases. In order to remove the anti-gay marriage laws, we need to go back to thoughts of morality, purity, cleanliness and embrace our sexuality of any source, all within the context of living to glorify our creator with our lives.