Love it or hate it, change is a natural part of life.

After reading the excellent article by Professor of law at the University of Chicago, Geoffrey R. Stone (in the Huffington Post today) I began to think about the difficulty people have with change. Change is something I am very familiar with. I travel the United States for over 30 years studying religious sociology. Indeed, I moved every 3-6 months since the age of 8. So change is something I became accustomed to from an early age. I only recently began to understand why people have such a difficult time with change. That does not mean however, change should not come
In the article by Mr. Stone, it spoke about the definition of marriage and how the meaning of words change over time. So the argument that the definition of marriage has always been between a man and a woman and the reason for not allowing gay people to marry is really a moot point. The meaning or words change over time because words are a part of sociology.
While the word evolution is vilified in many religious sects and is dismissed as as affront to the tenets of religious theologies. Really, "Evolution" is just a scientific name for the more common word "Change". As I wrote in my book, I have always found this fear of evolution to be quite strange being the evolution of religion is so very apparent. Christianity today is just barely like that if Christianity in its beginning. Being evolution in nature as well as sociology is obvious, documented and in many cases, calculated, why then do we fight it so much in a futile attempt to stop something that is obviously out of the control of humanity. One may not like change, but change will happen.
For me, whenever oppression is happening, that should be changed. Slavery was wrong and it is sad that it took a war to put an end to it. However, as is normal for those who feel entitled, they may have been forced to stop their oppression in one way, they began oppression in another way.The slaves may have been freed, but just how free were they in reality. It took amendment to the Constitution in the 1960's to give African Americans the right to vote. Even today, slave language is still used to define if one is black or white. We have a bi-racial President, but due to language used to define the ability to sell a human, he is called "black". So change can be rapid and change can be extremely slow, but have no doubt, change will come.
Now one of the difficulties we face is the definition of marriage. Again, referring to the struggle of the African American, it took until late in the 1960's  for an African American to be free to marry a white woman. This arrangement too was thought to be "unnatural" and was furiously fought of those in religion who felt they are the holders of the powers of God.. Now the ghosts of this fight have come back again in the fight to keep gay people from becoming married. It is truly sad that humanity tries to control love, a blessed gift from God. Then again trying to control Gods path in peoples lives has been the focus of religion since its beginning. Indeed, it is highly ironic that America was begun by those seeking freedom from religious oppression and has now become that which they were wanting freedom from. Religion in America wants to control the path of government and deny freedom to citizens it proclaims to the world are "equal". The proclamation of "liberty and justice for all" is a yet to be achieved goal of the founders of this country. Then again, the foundation of this country is rooted in hypocrisy because those proclaiming "liberty and justice for all" owned slaves. So it seems this hypocrisy continues generation by generation.
As a country, we must ask ourselves, are we ever going to truly achieve the goal of freedom and equality for all it's citizens? How much longer will we require the labor, the intellect, the efforts, the donations, the taxes and indeed, in this time of war, the very lives of the citizens, yet deny the rights afforded to other citizens? How much longer will we uphold hypocrisy as a virtue? How much longer will we continue to lie to other countries with propaganda of being the land of freedom "with liberty and justice for all"?
I know of no gay person that is asking for any religion to accept them or marry them. If one wishes to continue living in a fantasy world of misinterpretation, that should be their freedom and right as a citizen of this country. However, for any religion or denomination be allowed to trump another and deny a citizen their due rights afforded to others, only continues the hypocrisy of "freedom for all". No gay person is asking for any denomination or church to marry them or change their dogma. They are simply asking to be given the same rights that their taxes and blood have paid for along with other citizens of this country.
So I, along with my LGBT brothers and sister will continue the fight for change, even as this scares the living daylights out of so many. Just as the thought of two people of a different race marrying decades ago scared people then. Change is inevitable. Change will happen. Discrimination nor hypocrisy is a virtue and neither should be continued to be held as one. Many will undoubtedly agree it is not a virtue, but if it is not considered a virtue, why do so many in power and positions of leadership continue to perpetuate it?

May the light and love of God shine upon you and through you, now and forever.