The passage of the same-sex marriage bill in New York brings an opportunity to scrutinize the arguments of the opposition. Senator Ruben Diaz of the Bronx, who now holds the distinction of casting the lone Democratic vote against marriage equality, said it was “unbelievable” that the Republican Party, “the party that always defended family values,” had allowed the bill to pass. He explained his position as follows:
“God, not Albany, has settled the definition of marriage a long time ago.”
Setting aside the oddity of Diaz’s choice in tenses, and the fact that the Supreme Court changed the definition of marriage not long ago with
Loving v. Virginia
, I find it rather shocking that a family-values type would attack U.S. law so brazenly by advocating the Bible’s take on marriage, which after all includes polygamy. Lamech had two wives and so did Jacob, Esau had three, David had lots more, Solomon had hundreds. Or was Diaz thinking of that charming bit from Deuteronomy
, which specifies that if a man rapes a virgin not yet spoken for, and he’s discovered, he must marry his victim and pay her father fifty silver shekels?
With that kind of depravity, I have no choice but to root for Albany over God.
