The Rational Egoist

Lately there has been talk from President Bush and other conservatives such as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist about introducing legislation to federally restrict the institution of marriage to hetereosexuals.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Bush indicated Wednesday he opposes extending marriage rights to homosexuals, saying he believes marriage “is between a man and a woman.”

Bush said it is “important for society to welcome each individual,” but administration lawyers are looking for some way to legally limit marriage to heterosexuals.

“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and I think we ought to codify that one way or another,” Bush told reporters at a White House news conference. “And we’ve got lawyers looking at the best way to do that.”

This is blatant discrimination and a violation of individual rights. Every individal, by their nature as a human being, have the right to their own life, which means, they have the right to take whatever actions they deem necessary to the benefit of their own life, just as long as they do not violate this right of others in the process.

It is more than just “important for society to welcome each individual.” Rather, it is the obligation of a proper government to recognize the individual rights of EVERY human being, whether they be gay, black, atheist, or a member of any “unfavorable group” to a given politician. President Bush is attempting to inject his personal morality, based on the religion of Christianity, into law, which will force all individuals to follow this morality themselves. Such forcing of one’s personal morality into law is the equivalent of putting a gun (the power of the government) up to a gay person’s head and forbiding them to use their mind to come to their own conclusion about what course of action is best for the gay person and their lover (in this case, regarding whether or not it is most beneficial to get married.)

There is only one thing that the government has the right to punish people for, and that is violating the individual rights of others. Being gay, or wanting to be married if you’re gay, is not a violation of anyone else’s rights. In the case of President Bush, it is in violation of his personal morality, but this does not make it right to pass it into law.

I am a heterosexual, and I am not particularly favored to homosexuality. However, this opinion of mine is absolutely irrelevant when it comes to whether or not gays be should be allowed to be gay, or be allowed to be married. The personal opinions or morality of political officials DO NOT determine the rights of individuals. Nor does the personal opinions or morality of American citizens determine the rights of individuals. Even if a majority of people in this country felt the same way as President Bush, these gay people still have their right to be gay and right to be married.

One might ask me, you do not have a favorable opinion towards homosexuals, why would you support their ability to be married? Why not allow the government to direct legislation towards these people? The answer is, I regard the right to life as inalienable, and it is extremely important for the protection of my own rights that EVERYONE’S rights are recognized as inalienable as well. As soon as the government is allowed to restrict some people’s individual rights, it is only a matter of time before my rights are infringed upon as well, as long as the premise that it is ok for the government to do so is not challenged.

This is what it means to have the inalienable right to life. It means that no other individual or group of individuals, no matter how large or powerful, has the right to deny you your right to life, to deny you the ability to choose whatever course of action you deem to be beneficial to your life as long as it does not violate that right of others to do so as well.

I staunchly oppose any legislation designed at excluding gay people from being allowed to wed and I hope that there are enough decent people in Washington who agree.