智慧人生篇章 第12期:同性戀婚姻之爭(2)

And of course that's just where the problems lie.Though people on both sides appeal to what isnatural, nature unhelpfully supports both sides likingboth consistency and variety in gender andsexuality. So most people are male or female, butthere are some who are born with unfixed gender.Most people are heterosexual but some are not. Mostparents have children but some do not. And thenthere are people who marry knowing they can't havechildren, and children conceived with donatedsperm or eggs, or born through surrogates. Oursociety believes passionately in equality and wants everyone to have the chance of a decent andfulfilled private life. I have no problem with any of that. And yet.I don't want to lose thetraditional view that marriage reflects a particular pattern in which a man and a womanunite across their obvious differences. Civil partnerships have a different pattern, and I thinkthis could be sacramental too. I know partners who have created liturgies which celebrate theirlove, loyalty and commitment in the friendship of God. I'm not allowed to bless suchrelationships, but I think I am allowed to hope the day will come. What I don't want to happenis that the demand for equality reduces gay and straight relationships to sameness. Civilpartnerships offer something new and creative to thank God for, but there is no reason why weshould lose the blessing of what remains both ancient and instinctive.

但這也正是問題所在。雖然雙方都為本質(zhì)所吸引，雙方卻無法不去喜歡各自的性別上的差異。所以大部分人都是男和女。但是有些人的性征不明確。大部分都是異性戀，但有些人不是。大部分父母都生孩子，但有些不生。有些人明知無法有孩子還是結(jié)婚了，他們通過捐獻的精子、卵子甚至代孕得到孩子。我們的社會堅信平等，希望每個人都能有體面充實的私生活。我對此毫無異議，至少目前沒有。我想一直抱持傳統(tǒng)婚姻中一男一女跨越差異而結(jié)合的觀點。現(xiàn)在伙伴關(guān)系有了不同版本，我想這也可以成為一種圣禮。以上帝為友，他們創(chuàng)造了展示他們愛情、忠誠和承諾的圣禮。我沒有福佑這種關(guān)系的資格，但是我可以期待這一天的到來。我不想看到因為要求平等而使同性和異性婚姻千篇一律。現(xiàn)在有了新的有創(chuàng)造性的伙伴關(guān)系向上帝致敬。但我們也沒有理由不祝福自然天性。