Light And Life

G Sakamoto

If the passage Proposition 8 is upheld, it will amend the California Constitution with the following: "SEC. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

Proposition 8 defines marriage. The definition of marriage within a legal context has tremendous consequences. How marriage is defined in law affects children, families, property, emergency responses, visitations, taxes and even interstate accommodations. How marriage is defined profoundly influences people's lives. It can grant privileges to some while denying the same to others. Proposition 8 establishes a special category, that is separate and distinct, within a larger group of people who have all made similar commitments. Those who meet the requirements of the definition are included in the category, those who do not are excluded to another, perhaps equal, but separate category.

When Shakyamuni Buddha rose from the seat of Enlightenment to share what he had discovered, one of the first things he talked about was the Four Noble Truths. These truths form the bedrock of Buddhist understanding. He observed that difficulties characterized our lives. These difficulties result from our attachment to misperceptions. The difficulties we experience can be fundamentally resolved. That the resolution of difficulties is through the understanding and practice of the Eightfold Path.

Our inability to see things clearly and our attachment to our misperceptions, result in difficulties for ourselves and others. Our view of the world is the result of our experience. Whether it is what we think and feel or experience physically, where we are born, what we eat, what we are taught all contribute to how we engage the world.

Sometimes I eat natto for breakfast (did you keep the April article). Usually I sit on chairs. If I expect the world to support or even recognize natto as a breakfast food I will be sorely disappointed. If I insist that everyone must eat natto for breakfast I would receive support from natto eaters and encounter stiff resistance from everyone else. By insisting that the world abide by my preference for natto, the world is split in two: those who agree with me and those who don't. At breakfast, it would be unfair if the non-natto eaters insisted the we natto eaters take the slimy, sticky, stinky natto to another room because it would upset their breakfast. Of course, we natto eaters don't think of natto as slimy, sticky or stinky. Rather natto is a healthy and delicious alternative to runny eggs and artery clogging greasy bacon.

Separating the world into categories based on our likes and dislikes can result in difficulties for ourselves and others. To begin to see our differences as the possible result of our experience can begin to dissipate the boundaries of our views. The differences that separate can begin to be less important than what we share as human beings.

Natto and the definition of marriage may seem to be very different and yet it is our preferences expressed in law that separates and categorizes, divisions that result in difficulties. That we define marriage by gender does nothing to address the hard work and commitment couples must bring to significant relationships. Whether heterosexual or samesex, the challenges and joys of married life are met with the same commitment. It is that commitment that should be supported by law. That willingness to work through life together, growing old together, sharing family and life in a world free of the categories that separate.