Just a Minute!

The domestic partnership law threatens no one (9/14/09)

     Roger Williams founded Rhode Island as a matter of principle. A free-thinking theologian, he deplored the idea of state-sponsored religion and church-sponsored law. In the 1600s he created Rhode Island as a haven for those who traveled outside the mainstream. He clashed with conventional wisdom, but believed the state had no place denying anyone the right to a different opinion.

     When the Washington Legislature passed the Domestic Partnership Expansion Bill of 2009, it made this former Rhode Islander proud to be a Washingtonian. “At last,” I thought, “a triumph for civility.”

     The law is a simple exercise in human decency. Those who believe a civil “marriage” should be between a man and a woman can continue believing it without having to repeal the law via Referendum 71 in November. A law that extends spousal benefits to same-sex couples – and to heterosexual couples in their 60s who choose not to marry for sound financial reasons – does not endanger this belief in any way.

     Moreover, there is nothing unholy, untoward or un-Christian about being civil toward people who are different from us. Roger Williams understood this nearly 400 years ago. How long will it take for such open-minded acceptance to take root and flourish on this side of the country?

JUST A MINUTE! is a weekly essay that can be read in about 60 seconds. Find more online at seattlepostglobe.org.