Separation of the Church and State

In 9 states and the District of Columbia, gay marriage is now legal in their respective jurisdictions.  This means that gay couples living in these states now have the same rights as straight people when it comes to marriage.  It's been widely advocated that the states should not ban gay marriage just because the Bible says that it is not okay.  The church is saying it is a sin to practice homosexuality to begin with.  To marry two gay people is adding insult to injury, and the church should not be forced by the state to perform this ceremony for gays. I am not a proponent for gay marriage, nor am I against it.  However, everybody should have a right to what they believe in.

"Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable."-Leviticus18:22.
The church already asserts that practicing homosexuality is a sin, let alone gay marriage.  There are already churches that wed gay couples, because they believe that if two people truly love each other, they should be allowed to be married.  This is how state law believes it should be.  Does that mean that all churches should have to be performing ceremonies to wed gay couples?  Absolutely not.  These churches are staying true to the Bible and it is their religious right to not have to wed gay couples.  The First Amendment gives the church's rights immunity to law. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;".  Even if state law legalizes gay marriage, a majority of churches still do not recognize it.  Don't force them to do so.

Supporters of gay marriage say all states and the federal government should legalize gay marriage, so these people may have the same rights and recognition as straight couples do.  The church is saying no, and makes it very well known that gay marriage should not be legalized.  Gay couples feel this is not fair and the church should not decide what the state does. They are right.  The state has it's own set of laws that are separate from the Bible and that's how it's supposed to be.  Who is the church to say that gay couples can't get married under state law, just because God says it's "detestable"?  The church does not need to be getting involved with state law and instead needs to focus on it's own laws and follow them as they see fit.  For the churches that do allow gay couples to marry in their respective house of God, let them be the ones that have to face judgement when their time comes.

There is a reason for the separation of church and state.  It's so the people who follow the Bible can exercise their right to religion without punishment by the state, and it allows the people of the state to practice what they believe in freely, without discrimination. Let the churches decide individually who they wish to have married.  Some churches will and some churches will not.  The point is that it will give everybody a fair shot in representing what they believe.