The Real Goal of Banning Gay Marriage: Establishing Christianist Sharia Law

Banning gay marriage is much bigger than homophobic fear. It's the Dominionist camel's nose in the tent. Banning gay marriage is blatantly elevating christianist myths and hatred over secular government. It is different only in details from requiring adulterers and children who talk back be stoned to death.

Zandar on GG on douchehat on gay marriage:

Double G points out that Ross Douthat apparently doesn't know the difference between the concept of secular law and religious law in a very instructive lesson, since so many people seem to be confused about the two.

The State's official neutrality on the question of marriage does not even theoretically restrict Douthat's freedom -- or that of his ideological and religious comrades -- to convince others of the superiority of heterosexual monogamy. They're every bit as free today as they were last week to herald all the "unique fruit" which such relationships can alone generate, in order to persuade others to follow that course. They just can't have the State take their side by officially embracing that view or using the force of law to compel it.

But if the arguments for the objective superiority of heterosexual monogamy are as apparent and compelling as Douthat seems to think, they ought not need the secular thumb pressing on the scale in favor of their view. Individuals on their own will come to see the rightness of Douthat's views on such matters -- or will be persuaded by the religious institutions and societal mores which teach the same thing -- and, attracted by its "distinctive and remarkable" virtues, will opt for a life of heterosexual monogamy. Why does Douthat need the State -- secular law -- to help him in this cause?

The answer of course is the entire problem with gay marriage bans is that they are an attempt to enshrine religious law into secular law, always a dangerous proposition. Douthat and other social conservatives say their right to not have gay marriage because they are offended by it outweighs the right for gays and lesbians to enter into marriage because marriage is a religious, social contract.

It's not. Marriage is a secular, legal contract. It's using religious arguments to enforce secular law. By this argument we should be criminalizing adultery, disrespecting your mother and father, and having graven images of false gods as well. We do criminalize murder -- That Shalt Not Kill -- because of secular law. There are secular reasons against allowing people to go around and kill other people in cold blood. Gay marriage bans? Not so much. It's a legal contract.

Read the whole thing.

The real issue is that the christianists reject secular law out of hand. The only "law" they recognize is their interpretation of the vicious bloodletting in a Bronze Age fable. It's like basing your government on the last act of Hamlet.

Wonder why the freakazoids are so convinced that muslims and liberals are trying to install islamic sharia law in the United States? Because that's exactly what christianist conservative freakazoids are already trying to do, only substituting "biblical" for "sharia."

The first step is gaining widespread acceptance of the first law of christianist sharia: stripping homosexuals of their civil rights.

Let's have a chorus of "slippery slope!"

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....