Polar opposites

One of the wonderful values which the Torah has introduced to the world, and which has thank G-d become ubiquitous after thousands of years of osmosis is the principle of human rights. In ancient times they believed that one who is more powerful has the right to do whatever he wants to another who is less powerful. The world was a competitive place where every man fought for his own interests and the winner took all. The Torah argued that every human being has worth and must be treated with a certain minimum of respect regardless of who it may be. This principle has achieved virtually universal acceptance. It is expressed in the famous words of the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." This applies even to people whom we find fault with. It is not our place to judge or punish them. Their moral decisions are between them and G-d. That is why even though homosexuality is wrong, those who practice it must still be treated the same as everyone else. They should not be singled out any more than flat-earthers, Amish, Frenchmen, videogame addicts, Bohemians, lefties, libertarians, or people who watch the Home Shopping Network. So-called gays deserve equal rights. It therefore disturbs me that gay rights have been confused with the paradoxical idea of "gay marriage." The term is incoherent because the two words are mutually exclusive. They could not be further apart. The very fact that people use the words together shows that they don't know what one of them means.

Let's try to understand the concept of marriage, trace it back to it's root. What is it anyways? Where did it come from? The first recorded marriage was between Adam and Eve, the first people. At first they were not separate people. There was one human who Incorporated both genders as one. This human saw that he (or she or it?) was unique in the world. Unlike animals, humans are self-aware. We can think about what we're thinking. This allows us to learn from our experiences and actions. We can invent new things, and make better choices. This is our greatest strength, and what puts us in a higher category than animals. Despite the great value of intelligence, it has one grave disadvantage. The mind is not a part of the world. It stands apart from the world, looking in. We can stay withdrawn and lost in our thoughts, and not participate in the world. A person can live their whole life with their head in the clouds. This way one accomplishes nothing. They are self-centered. So the first human asked G-d to make him a little more like the animals. Animals are active participants in life. They don't daydream. They do. G-d granted his request by dividing him into two people. Not two identical people, but one male and one female. Neither of them was a complete human being. Each had qualities that the other did not. They needed each other. This forced them to shift their focus from inward to outward. The man now has a wife and kids to look out for. The woman is no longer just a woman. She's a wife and mother. They are now integral components of the world, and no longer dispassionate observers.

(This paragraph was inserted later due to comments posted.) All love is inherently self-centered. The elemental difference between love and fear is that I love on my terms, whereas fear or respect is on the other's terms. I act in a loving way because I feel like it and no one can force me to love them. The redeeming quality of love is that it allows one to project their self-interest outside of themselves. Within love, there are two basic categories, known as "love like water" or brotherly love,and "love like fire" or romantic love. Water is enjoyable because it is calm and cool. Tranquil. There is nothing unexpected. One should have love like water for everyone because we are all really more alike than we are different. Love like fire is like the flame excitedly lapping at the air, always wanting that which it doesn't have. That love one should have for their spouse. Because your spouse has traits that you don't.

This is the commitment called marriage. I care about someone else so much that life is not about me anymore. It's about someone else. I do something because my partner wants, not only if I want. Only in this way can man overcome his selfishness. Not by loving someone else because you love yourself and you see yourself in them; but by caring about someone outside of yourself. When two opposites live together as one, each of them is freed from the shackles of their own ego. They become a part of the wide world around them. That is why marriage is so holy that in Hebrew it is called "kiddushin", holiness.

Homosexuality is a condition where, for whatever reason, a person has lost the ability to be attracted to their opposite half. They love what they see of themselves in the other. That's why the homosexual act is called an abomination by the Torah. It is the limiting and ultimately destructive act of indulging one's selfishness. It's the very antithesis of the holiness of marriage. No matter how much freedom there is or how many rights people have, there can never be such a thing as "gay marriage."