Why I Don't Support Same-Sex Marriage (or any other kind of federally-backed marriage.)

When I first was confronted with the idea of homosexuality, I had no idea what to think.

I talked to my parents, and they both thought it to be wrong.

I talked to my brother, and he was on the fence.

I talked to my best friend, and he thought it was wrong.

Eventually, one of my friends came out as being gay, so that had an influence on me. I mean, I don't want to "hate" my friend. I had no clue as to what to do. I talked to my parents and friends about it again and they gave me the same answer: it was wrong. So great: my friend isn't right in the head. Wonderful.

I soon forgot about the whole mess until my senior year of high school when I took political science and AP Government. I had to think about it, my grade depended upon it.

So one day, I sat down and thought to myself: is this a black-and-white issue, that is, are there only two sides to this? I mean, being from Fairfax County, a lot of peers sided with homosexuals and thinking it was acceptable, so it seemed as if I should as well; I was suffocated by one opinion.

The truth is, this does not have to be a two-sided issue. This is where I have taken my stand.

After discussing matters further with my brother who provides a moderate position on most issues, I came to this conclusion:

1.) Marriage is religious. It should not be in the government's realm of powers to control; that is a merge of church and state.

2.) The only type of bond that a government should be able to give is a civil union, straight or gay, provided the benefits are equal to both couples.

3.) I don't want my religion to influence my laws nor do I want my laws to influence my religion. Therefore, don't try to warp marriage by changing the original concept.

4.) This is what I think a lot of people haven't come to understand. You don't have to agree with your friends to like them. Even though my one friend is a homosexual, I still treasure his camaraderie. I do not approve of his way of life and would not vote to give him "marriage rights" because of the aforementioned points, but I still think that he is a good man.

So there. That's all I've got. I hope that those who believe that gay marriage isn't right believe it for the right reasons and that those who support it aren't doing it for their peers' approval.

Why I Treasure the 2008 General Election

It changed me. This election has shown me who I am and what I want to happen in politics.

The politics of division and intense partisanship is no longer apparent to me. I don't know why it happened; maybe it was the incredible slap in the face I received when Obama won an electoral college landslide. Maybe it was just that I see uselessness in bickering. I don't know.

All I know is that there is a prevailing national feeling coming about, and this feeling is good. Conservative commentators, Joe Scarborough in particular, have decided to take the high road and be proud of all that Senator Barack Obama has acheived: winning the hearts and minds of countless Americans; transcending history and society; and of course, winning the presidency of the United States of America, an accomplishment we should all stand in awe of.

We are slowly, but surely, putting America on a course of renewed purpose and globally-envied success, not by having a certain party in power, but by uniting behind a leader and supporting him as such. My friends, we all will have our disagreements with the new president, but that does not remove him from his position, and does not give a reason to be less courteous to him as we are to anyone else. He is the president, our president. We owe him just as much respect as we have given President Bush or President Reagan.

He may not represent our ideological values, but he does represent our American values. Let's all put "country first" instead of "party first," that would be what Senator McCain would want us to do. That is what our founding fathers need us to do.

Thank you.