Charley Barnes Peeks Into This Week’s Edition Of “Vickie’s Corner” – Equal Rights

Vickie's Corner is a feature I started last week after I asked a friend of mine to share some of her thoughts. She has a lot of them, and they are always well versed, written and thought out so this was my way of giving someone a platform to share their thoughts as a member of society and non media based.  Enjoy. 

It's a hot topic and on everyone's news feed this week; equal rights.  Right or wrong or is there such a thing.  Vickie Downing shares her thoughts on the subject this week.

Unfortunately, our day is sometimes defined by a headline (or in this case a comment about a headline) that compels one to decide on which side of an issue one stands. Today that issue is civil union vs. gay marriage.

I reference a comment from a social media site that made me go hmmm…

I truly believe that civil unions should have all the legal rights by man's law with the regards to the benefits hetero couples have. My qualm is it should not be called marriage as God's law states "Marriage" is between a man and a woman.

What seems to have escaped notice in at least one aspect of this argument is not all marriages are religious in nature. For instance, I was married by a justice of the peace in what can only be described as a five minute-five buck civil ceremony nearly 42 years ago. The only difference between that ceremony and what is being proposed today to accommodate gays is the gender of the happy couple.

A civil union is marriage. If it is not, then I have been happily flaunting convention for over four decades.

Apparently, labeling controversial issues in socially acceptable language makes it easier for the masses to reconcile life in the real world with things they personally find morally reprehensible. I believe that is how most people reconcile religion and popular culture.

• Case #1 - Christmas vs. Santa Claus
• Case #2 - Easter vs. that pesky rabbit
• So why not God vs. Gay Marriage?

I am out of my comfort zone when religion enters just about any debate but it does not take a particularly religious person to wonder how religious or openly anti-gay organizations and establishments will be able to reconcile their principles of operation with what in their view has become (at least in Colorado) lawful immorality.

The biggest problem I see with all of the above is people in general refuse to take a stand. I call it conscientious ignorance. Concerns about operating contrary to popular opinion, is the source of most social dysfunction.

When words like legal fail to mean lawful or illegal fails to mean unlawful where exactly does that leave us when we try to define marriage? Or maybe that is the problem – we have not defined marriage. Personally, I don’t hold out much hope of the Supreme Court doing much more than muddying the waters.

Populists and politicians fear a person who knows and speaks their own mind, rightfully so.

I live by this byline… Silence is the most insidious form of consent. With that said, I will go on record: I believe in the literal language of the Bill of Rights – unabridged and free of compromise. I believe the definition of illegal is unlawful. I believe marriage (even a civil marriage) is a contract between one man and one woman. My personal moral code does not change because some pinhead lawmaker signs a poorly conceived bill into law. I am not anti-gay nor am I pro-gay. To be honest I rarely give gay issues much thought as I am certain they rarely give straight issues much thought.

What I believe does not matter much in the grand scheme of things but being firm in my convictions allows me to get through the day and sleep at night after confronting something that in my mind simply is not right.

Vickie Downing is a geographically challenged Texan now living in Fort Collins – She loves books and rides on the Harley.  Her support for our Veterans and the Military goes above and beyond and she bleeds red-white and blue everyday. Check back next week for another topical view of the world today.