A Non-Religious Contract in America

Essay by Anonymous UserUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, December 1994

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A Non-Religious Contract in America

The religious standards of Americans today have plummeted to a new low. Fewer people are going to church than earlier in the century. Many people are marrying without even going to a priest by getting a judge to marry them. Divorce is steadily on the rise. Today's society accepts homosexuals! Now the issue arises over whether we should allow homosexuals to marry. And you know what? It is really none of the government's business.

America can no longer deny its homosexual citizens the right to have a legal marriage. Looking at today's society, we can see that there is no good reason to deny gay couples the rights that straight couples have in getting married. The United States has always had the idea of separation of church and state, and marriage is one issue that must maintain that idealogy in the eyes of the government.

The key to separating church and state in the debate over marriage is taking the definition of marriage that best applies to society today. To do that we must look at marriage's state in the 1990's.

Religion is losing its dominance in the issue of marriage. We cannot argue the fact that there are more divorces in the country today that there were 20 years ago. This points to America's increasing acceptance of divorce. Therefore, we can conclude that religion has become less of an issue for many Americans when marrying because most religions strongly discourage divorce, some to the point of not allowing it at all. This leads to the question, 'What is today's basis for marriage?'

Some propose that the sole purpose of marriage be to bring life into the world. If this were true, then it would be unacceptable for many in this country to ever be...