Because North Korea Supports Basic Freedoms

‎”We are living in New York, in the United States of America – not in China or North Korea. In those countries, government presumes daily to “redefine” rights, relationships, values, and natural law.” -‎Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan on the recent push in New York state to legalize gay marriage..

I came across this quote being referenced in a news article earlier today and was a little… I think confused would be the right word here. I’m not upset that it was said. People are entitled to their freedom of speech, and that statement was not the worst thing anybody has ever said. It’s not even the worst thing anyone has said about a similar issue this past week. I’m just a little confused about where the hell heck (sorry, he is an archbishop) he is coming from.

He goes on to say that by defining what marriage is, the state government is going too far. I just think that is wrong. The government is attempting to end the discrimination forbidding marriage from millions of people. Instead of being a controlling nation like North Korea or China, New York is attempting to provide human beings with a right they deserve. 

Dolan’s point was that the state is forcing people to define marriage in terms that the state feels is appropriate. That point is way off base though, because it does not require religious organizations from performing gay marriages. It even protects their right to discriminate in that way. It just makes it possible for a more progressive religious group to allow it, and creates more equality under the law where marriage is used as a legal term.

Normally, I would not really tear into what a very religious person has to say as it is not typically worth the effort. Know that I’m not arguing against any beliefs, but rather what one man said.

Just to be a bit nit-picky with some of the rest:

Shouldn’t we be more upset – and worried – about this perilous presumption of the state to re-invent the very definition of an undeniable truth…that has served as the very cornerstone of civilization and culture from the start?

I’m not quite sure that is the case. I mean look at ancient Greece and Rome. I’d say that they were pretty fundamental pieces of civilization and culture.

 Our country’s founding principles speak of rights given by God…

Our country’s founding principles were not really based in religion. In fact the Treaty of Tripoli during the Barbary Wars, one of the young nation’s first armed conflicts, states: “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion”. Plus, the words “under god” were not added to the pledge or really anything until the 1950s as a protection against the spread of communism.

 .”..that are protected, not re-defined, by a state presuming omnipotence.”

Actually, doesn’t religion assume omnipotence in all things? I don’t think the state expanding freedoms of its citizens is that wrong of a presumption.

You can see his original blog post here if you would like.

I’m rooting for this bill to pass and to be made into law. It would be a great step in the right direction to help relieve something that has long been an injustice. I’m just a little confused about what the archbishop was arguing, but then again, he is an archbishop, and religion doesn’t have to make sense.