Sunday, January 24, 2010
Chinese Christian Evangelical Religious Group Opposes Same-Sex Marriage
There are many opponents to same-sex marriage in the United States. The most common however are religious organizations and individuals. In the Bay Area specifically, Chinese Evangelical Christians make up one of the largest and most vocal groups that are in opposition of same-sex marriage. Hak-Shing William Tam, a prominent leader of the community, went to court on Thursday to take stand in the federal trial Perry v. Schwarzenegger that questions the constitutionality of the ban on gay marriage. Mr. Tam’s opponents claim that he is simply homophobic. This argument has some support after Mr. Tam wrote that homosexuality comes with pedophilia and prostitution, and the propositions failure will only legalize it. Regardless of his controversial opinions about homosexuality, he continues to have the support of his fellow Chinese Christians. Gerry Shih examines whether or not the desire to ban same-sex marriage is related to purely religion or perhaps culture.
Although the Chinese Christian Evangelical Group is religious, their reasons for opposing same-sex marriage are traced back to their cultural roots. Most of these individuals strongly believe in the Confucius value of family. It is important to them to maintain their family culture, which most common in China is the nuclear family. A nuclear family consists of a mother, father and their children. The family is also in charge of educating the children, who will eventually become the leading members of society.
I respect this groups desire to remain close to their cultural roots in a world where values and traditions are disappearing. My understanding is that this particular group does not accept homosexuality and same-sex marriage because it threatens the traditionally Chinese family structure. If all aspects of modern society that threatened the Chinese culture were rejected, I could understand the foundation of their argument. However, like Shih hints in his article, there are many modern American values that contradict their culture, but are nonetheless accepted.
For example, according to Confucius, women and men are not equal. In Ancient China, women were denied education and were even rarely given names. With regards to marriage, women were supposed to serve their husbands and give birth. They were not supposed to think, or express their emotions. Obviously it is 2010 and we are no longer in Ancient China. However, even today Chinese women are still going back and forth with regards to having an equal role in society. In traditional Chinese culture women are not supposed to be independent, but an increasing number are leaving China to pursue a better life for themselves.
So, how can this particular group claim that homosexuality is wrong because it threatens their culture? If this is true, then they should openly claim that women and men should not be equal and they should deny their wives and daughter’s education and employment. I don’t see how same-sex families would threaten their culture any more than having interracial families; neither is the traditional family structure. It is interesting to reason with the idea that same-sex marriage may not be a religious issue, but a cultural one.
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