Utilitarianism is a normative theory that we ought to concern ourselves with the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Homosexuals believe that by achieving marriage they will have a greater happiness, which makes up for the unhappiness of their opponents.
Opponents of gay marriage hold the view that gay marriages go against either religious or natural law. One of the theory that are held by some opponents are Divide Command Ethics, which is a theory that ethical norms are ultimately based upon the authoritative decrees of God. The bible says that a man and a women should marry to become one.
The different opinions about gay marriages, are not the only thing to be considered when thinking about whether or not Congress should act against the Supreme Court. Another import aspects, would have to be the history of gay rights in the United States. One of the earliest acts involving the case of gay marriage was signed into law by Bill Clinton, who was president at the time. The act was called the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. Clinton signed this act in 1996, which defined marriage as being between one man and one women. The act as stated that the word spouse only referred to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife (ethics book). This law made it so that states didn’t have to recognize same sex marriages, or provide these couples with federal benefits. Some examples …show more content…
Windsor case. The Court came to the conclusion that the act made it so that same sex couples, were less worthy than other couples, which made the act unfair. By treating people differently, it violated the due process rights that every citizen has.
Individual states have made their decisions about whether marriages of same sex should be allowed. California is an example, since The California Supreme Court ruled that gay marriages were constitutional. The opponents decided to ban together to get the proposition 8 included into law. Proposition 8 was all about putting the traditional definition of marriage into the California’s constitution (Schubert and Flint, 2015). Other states have also worked to modify their constitutions to either get same sex marriages ban or allowed.
In recent years, more politicians have spoken up for gay marriages. For example President Barack Obama made the statement “that the journey toward liberty and equality would not be complete until our gay brother and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law” (ethics book). Obama wanted to make the point that we are equal, and love should be equal as