Should the state recognize same-sex marriage?.
The state should allow same-sex marriage.
According to the dictionary, marriage is defined as the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. This legal union is a guarantee by the state that married couples have certain rights and benefits. First, there are tax benefits where married couples are able to file joint tax returns and divide business income among the family members. Next, there are certain Government benefits such as being able to receive Social Security, Medicare, and other disability benefits for spouses. Legally recognized spouses are also able to receive many benefits from employers such as obtaining insurance through one of the spouse's employers or being able to take leave from work to take care of spouses during an illness. There are also many medical rights such as being able to visit a spouse after visitation hours in the hospital or being able to make critical medical decisions for each other if one is incapacitated. Besides these few examples, there are also many other benefits in these categories; death, family, housing, consumer, and legal. With all this said, having a legally recognized union is very beneficial for those who are married and it is no surprise that the gay community wants Massachusetts to recognize gay marriages.
Generally, there are two different institutions that recognize marriage; religion and the state. Being able to speak only on behalf of my Christian faith, there is no reason why the Christian church should recognize gay marriages as a union before God. God makes it very clear in the Bible that the gay lifestyle is a sin. I realize that all people sin and are not perfect, but God loves all of us the same anyway. At the same time however, God does not call the church to recognize my sin as being acceptable, but instead invites me to ask forgiveness from Him and repent of these sins.