Uncle Roger's Notebooks of Daily Life

Asking Permission

"Based on extensive research, we cannot state definitively that New Mexico law currently permits same-sex marriage." So said New Mexico Attorney General Gary King. "Because of our conclusion, we caution against issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples before the courts have decided the issue or the legislature changes the law."

Now, I may have a skewed view of how our government is supposed to work (let alone how it actually does work), but I always thought it was not the government's purview to "permit" its citizens to do something. That is, we aren't supposed to be subject to the whims of our rulers, only allowed to do that which they explicitly allow us to do.

Of course, there are some activities the government restricts -- murder, theft, driving 90 miles an hour the wrong way on a one-way street -- but other than that which is explicitly prohibited (and that which negatively affects others), we're free to do whatever it is that suits our fancy. So, if I want to put a rubber glove on my head and run around my house naked yelling "I'm a chicken!" I can do so until such time as the law says I can't. I don't need a law stating that I am allowed to do that, I only need there to NOT be a law saying I can't.

What AG King has said, however, is that because the law doesn't explicitly say "yes, gay couples can get married", they can't. In effect, he is saying that because the state hasn't given permission, it ain't happenin'.

Personally, I think that his opinion is wrong. Not only is it wrong, however, it is dangerous and antithetical to the very essence of these United States.