My wife and I attended a same-sex wedding in Pensacola last week.

Never before having attended such an event, we weren’t sure what to expect. A congregation of about 25 relatives and friends of the couple assembled in the church. The couple’s pastor officiated at an understated, tasteful, reverent service. Scripture was read, a good sermon was preached, prayers were spoken, and God’s blessing was pronounced on the couple.

In the congregation were three other same-sex couples who had married earlier in other states. A guest seated behind me wept with joy and said he never thought he’d see this day.

This couple had been together for years and from a legal standpoint, it made sense that they marry so they could make decisions for each other at critical moments in their lives. A spouse has access and permission to act beyond what is granted by a power-of-attorney.            

Last week’s ceremony aside, three questions come to mind regarding same-sex marriage: Is it constitutional? Is it moral? And (for me as a Christian) is it consistent with the Bible?

I’ll address the first two questions here and deal with the biblical question next week.

District Court Judge Callie Granade of Mobile last month overturned Alabama’s ban of same-sex marriage, ruling that it violated the U.S. Constitution. After the Court of Appeals declined to hear the state’s challenge to her ruling, it took effect on Monday, two days ago (and two days after the wedding I attended in Pensacola). Same-sex marriage is now legal throughout Alabama.

Granade based her ruling on section 1 of the 14th amendment, ratified in 1868 (with slavery in mind):

“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The key phrase was “equal protection.” Granade ruled that protections granted to some couples must be granted to all couples, whatever their sex.

The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on same-sex marriage later this year. Most legal observers feel the court is likely to see it Granade’s way, but we’ll have to wait and see. If they do, same-sex marriage will be legal in all fifty states.

Of course not everything that’s legal is right. I’ve been told Granade is a member of a conservative Protestant congregation in Mobile, and if that’s true, I doubt that she intended her ruling as a statement on the morality of same-sex relationships.

So now to the second question: Are same-sex unions moral? If they undermine the sanctity of marriage, they surely are not.

Amendment 774 to the Alabama state constitution (now ruled unconstitutional) was ratified in 2006 by 81 percent of the state’s voters. It was called the “Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment” and used explicitly religious language, calling marriage a “sacred covenant.” Its supporters promoted it as protecting the sanctity of marriage.

I’ve never understood that argument. I don’t see how the sanctity of my marriage would be affected by two men or two women marrying each other.

Some things about ourselves we can change, but sexual orientation is a given, like right- or left-handedness, like blue or brown eyes. I am who I am, and if other people are something else, they don’t threaten me or my marriage, nor do I expect them to become like me.

When any two people (who may have been living promiscuously) vow to start living together monogamously and faithfully, I think that recognizes and affirms the sanctity of marriage.

But the sanctity of marriage in America is threatened---by the behavior of some married people.

Studies suggest that around 20 percent of marriages experience at least one incident of infidelity, and the divorce rate in America, though declining in recent years, is still around 40 percent.

The real threat to the sanctity of marriage comes from straight people who violate their marriage vows. If we’re serious about protecting the sanctity of marriage, we should criminalize adultery and divorce. But let’s not do that.

Next week: Is same-sex marriage biblical?

Richard H. Schmidt is a retired Episcopal priest, editor and author who lives in Fairhope. He can be reached at courier@gulfcoastnewspapers.com.