As if America’s widespread religious beliefs were not evidence enough of America’s superstitious beliefs, last Saturday’s flood of marriages should end any speculation. l refer, of course, to the relatively large number of Americans who jumped at the chance to get married on July 7, 2007 — reportedly on the belief that 07-07-07 would be their “lucky number.” Indeed, according to some wedding planners, the rate of marriages last Saturday was three times the usual rate — a staggering acknowledgement that many Americans put their faith in luck and superstition.
So, here’s my question: when large numbers of heterosexual American couples believe that a “lucky day” will bless their marriage — and they treat marriage with the sort of superstition that most people apply to the purchase of a lottery ticket — and absolutely no one complains about it, then what standing do Americans have to suggest that homosexual couples would somehow undermine the institution of marriage? Exactly what remains of the “sanctity” of marriage when so many heterosexual couples in America chuck sanctity straight out the window and absolutely nobody cares? When heterosexuals can get married in drive-through chapels in Vegas, in Walmart stores or even dressed up as clowns [1], and when half of all heterosexual marriages end in divorce, exactly what support exists for the ridiculous suggestion that heterosexuals are protecting the sanctity of marriage by excluding homosexual couples? When you have reduced marriage to a circus event, when you have kept it available to serial killers on death row or to rich octagenarians who wed twenty-something strippers (e.g., Anna Nicole Smith), exactly what is gained (other than pure bigotry) by banning it among homosexual couples?
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