Thorndike-Barnhart states [Marriage | Define Marriage at Dictionary.com] is the legal union between man and woman. Matrimony actually applies to the spiritual or religious bond in that union. To get married, partners must be of correct age, correct sex, not incarcerated, no animals, and no multiple partners involved (in most cases).

Because 7 states (including DC) have legalized gay marriage, any further erosion of marriage is being closely watched. North Carolina continually allows domestic partnerships and civil unions, and is the only Southeastern state without a limit on alleged ‘marriages’.

Gays continually scream discrimination, and their ‘right’ to marry anyone cannot be interfered with.

It’s a fact that any marriage is not a right. It’s not listed as a right in the Declaration of Independence, nor in the Constitution of the US. It’s always been an earned privilege.    

Many earned privileges exist in the US: 1) voting; must be citizen, not existing felon; 2) airline pilot: must have flying experience, handles emergencies well, able to swim; 3) professional baseball player: must be relatively fast, coordinated, and strong, must be able to hit a moving sphere (@>75 mph); 4) professional horse race jockey: small, light-weight, good relationship with horses, 5) policeperson: pass academy requirements, reasonably good shape, no past felony record, etc., etc., etc…

The privileges are endless if one has the attributes to meet those privileges. Marriage is another privilege, never spelled out as a right. For marriage, those attributes involve another person as well. Both have to be of the opposite sex to have kids, they have to be the appropriate age, they can’t marry a close relative, and have to meet certain marriage license requirements.

There is no discrimination towards anyone not receiving those privileges. If they meet the necessary requirements, they can get those privileges as well. Fortunately, you don’t hear of a bank robber voting, an airline pilot panicking with an approaching thunderstorm, a professional baseball player needing glasses to see, or a fat jockey.

But you continuously hear about the attempts to redefine marriage—to change the requirements for including everyone. People demand monetary advantages for all those in civil unions and partnerships sanctioned by various activist judges and lawmakers. You hear so many yell discrimination, when most Christians live and let live without interference. Yet gays always seem to be convinced discrimination is the root of the inability to marry someone of the same sex.

Maybe one needs to explain how the main purpose of marriages is to produce additional population. Gays cannot do this. So we’re going to provide funds for doing whatever they may want to do. For all-inclusivity status, we’re willing to redefine marriage and give those not intended to marry, monetary payment for it.

No, let’s condemn all those who have dogs, as being discriminated against because they don’t get the accolades and monetary advantages like Ron Turcotte for winning the TRIPLE CROWN WINNERS – HorseWorldData, on Secretariat.

If you blink hard enough, the state might let marriage evolve down to marrying your pet. Asheville would be a good place to start, with North Carolina likely the next state to accept gay marriage. Simply  put, you don’t change the requirements of a privilege, an institution, and a sacrament, just to assure some that they’re not being discriminated against.

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Kevin Roeten can be reached at roetenks@charter.net.