YOUR AD HERE »

Ken Collins: No harm, no foul

The third leg of our government consists of four men who obviously loved the 1950s, four others who seem to realize we’re in the 21st century and one guy who sits on the fence falling either direction at times.

A while back, this diverse group, by a 5-4 vote, decided that, under the guise of the First Amendment, that money does indeed talk and saps walk, in the Citizens United decision.

They followed that by another decision that virtually gutted the Voting Rights Act. Since we elected a black man as president, therefore our racial problems have gone away. Of course, immediately, several states began trying to restrict as many minorities from voting as they could. And most black males biggest fear is to see police lights in their rearview mirror.



Are they about to complete the trifecta of bad decisions, when they decide the marriage equality question sometime in June? Marriage equality is really just about allowing people who love each other and want to spend their lives married to each other to do, well, just that very thing. Straight forward it seems. Why isn’t this a given human right.

There are those who oppose for various reasons. Gay people can’t procreate is one. That reason would negate millions of marriages right off the bat. Not a sound argument.



Right about now, many are reaching for their bibles. This brings up some tricky arguments. The Bible is a great tome for people to use in deciding how to live their personal lives and treat others fairly. One can cherry-pick verses to use to fit your needs. But when you wave the Bible around and try to tell others how to live their lives, things get complicated.

The Bible does say some things about marriage. Who actually said those things is a bit murky. The problem is using those verses as final proof.

What about a father selling his daughter into slavery as Ex. 21:7 allows; or killing someone who works on the Sabbath as Exodus 35:2 extols; the planting of two different crops next to each other is wrong, so Deuteronomy 22:9 tells us. There are many more. You can cherry-pick verses for your own life, but when you tell others how to live, is that fair?

If a gay couple gets married in Seattle, how does that harm my marriage? Maybe the first rule in a pick-up basketball game should apply here: No harm, no foul.

Thirty seven states and D.C. have approved the measure. Many will use that Biblical phrase, “abomination,” as an argument, but then you are suspending both the science of biology and God’s will, since he made people that way.

Because one fact is obvious: Homosexuality is not a choice, but homophobia is.

Ken Collins

Oak Creek


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.