The ACA was upheld by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote with Chief Justice Roberts being the person to save the act. I'm so psyched. SOOOOOO psyched. I was in my TA class this morning following the media coverage on the computer while my students took an exam. It was all I could do to not stop them in mid-question around 9:20 and say, "History was just made. Healthcare has truly become affordable for the vast majority of Americans!" I was able to restrain myself though.
I've also been pondering a question I was asked yesterday: What do I consider to be the point of marriage and how do I see it connected to faith? This came up during a conversation where I said I firmly believe you should be able to marry whoever you love, regardless of their gender and that I believed who you had sex with had very little to do with your parenting abilities. I also said I didn't believe abstinence was the ONLY way to live. So this was a valid question to ask - if marriage isn't necessary to legitimize sex or for procreation, why do it? I had never had to articulate my response before so I fumbled through some statements but wasn't happy with my response. So I slept on it and returned to my friend today with this answer:
I finally realized my understanding of marriage is deeply Baptist. And please note here that I mean historical Baptist, not Southern Baptist (or whatever the SBC is calling itself now). To me, marriage is a public declaration of a decision before God (if the people are religious), friends, and family, that has already been made between two people. Similar to a profession of faith followed believers baptism, the commitment to change how one lives their life is made at the engagement and followed with a wedding. Thus the marriage ceremony itself isn't necessary for two people to be committed to each other. And marriages in a courthouse are just as legitimate as those in a church or on a Caribbean island. But the point of the marriage is to "go public" - to not only commit yourself and be accountable to your spouse but to promise to all your friends and family and the friends and family of your partner that you WANT to and WILL share your life with them.
I don't believe in soul mates in the sense that there is only one person in the entire world out there. I don't believe people should enter marriage expecting it to end in divorce. I don't think the gender of your partner should matter in the eyes of the state, though I respect religious institutions' right to not conduct any marriage they do not support. That said, I am proud that my mother has performed multiple same-sex marriages and I'm proud to have attended a church that conducted a same-sex wedding and openly embraced all members regardless of sexual orientation (that would be South Church UCC in Andover, MA).
Okay that's enough on marriage - as all-for-it as I am, I'm also a bit exhausted at seeing all my friends get engaged, married, or start having children. I'd just like a boyfriend. But moving 2000 miles across country isn't really conducive to starting a relationship, so that part of my life is on hold at the moment. And that's okay.
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