Unitarian Universalists have long held as common beliefs, the inherent worth and dignity of every person and justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.  With these as some of the core beliefs, it was relatively easy for the leaders in Unitarian Universalism to perform commitment ceremonies and marriages for couples regardless of gender, and the denomination has publicly supported this practice since 1984.

          Opposition to same sex unions often call for the practice of “traditional marriage” without explaining what is meant other than calling upon history to bolster their argument.  When the history of marriage is examined, a far different story appears than what is commonly practiced now in western culture.  Historically, and still in much of the world, marriage is between a male and a female who is looked upon as property.  Women were property, and men were the owners of women, and could often own as many women as they could afford.  Men owned women in three categories;  they owned wives, they owned concubines, and they owned slaves.

          Most of those who call for traditional marriage probably don’t want to go back to the time of the writing of the Bible.  Maybe they just want to go back to the times where a marriage was determined by the parents, or maybe just back to the time when in much of the United States it was illegal for interracial marriage just as now it is illegal for same sex marriage.  When laws against interracial marriage were eliminated, the world did not come to an end, and those marriages and the families which result from them would seem to be no better or worse than with racially identical partners.  Same sex partnerships and the children they raise probably succeed and fail in the same proportions as heterosexual couples.

          The Universalist part of the Unitarian Universalist Association began as a rebellion against the Calvinistic  belief in predestination where God would damn certain parts of the population to an eternity of hell.  Belief in a loving God rather than a vengeful God led to a belief in universal salvation and to the name Universalists.  In much the same way, the belief in a loving God would probably lead one to support the relationship between two loving individuals.

          With more and more religious organizations joining those who support marriage equality, same sex marriage will likely become no more unusual in the future than is interracial marriage today.  We can hope that a more peaceful world will result as we all honor the inherent worth and dignity of every individual.  In much the same way we would hope that a more peaceful world would result from the use of justice, equity and compassion in human relations.

Don Thompson, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Alamosa