Heaven on Earth

As I was driving along listening to a radio story about gay marriage I had a sort of epiphany: there are two kinds of people in this world: those who believe heaven comes later and those who believe that heaven is right here and now.  Personally I view life here on mother earth as heaven and that every day is a precious gift not to be wasted.

If someone feels like their life is best spent with a partner of the same sex, who am I to say otherwise.   Life is short and we all deserve some sort of happiness.  This is where the life is a prerequisite for heaven versus life is heaven points of view diverge.  A proponent of the former would argue “hey my book says that homosexual behavior is wrong so keep that stuff to yourself, suffer through this earthly life and your reward will be in heaven,” whereas a subscriber to the later would say “all that we know for certain is the here and now so make the most of every day – live the life that makes you happy.”

Some would argue that the second approach is a recipe for hedonism, but I would argue the opposite: once you begin to view life as a precious gift you begin to realize that everybody has received the same gift and that everyone’s gift needs respect.  Recognizing life as a gift breeds compassion.  Viewing heaven as a reward, on the other hand, provides the powerful with a mechanism to exploit the weak – march a bunch of kids off to war, strap a bomb vest onto some teenager, exploit some child – what the hell they get to go to heaven when it’s all over.  No thanks.  Not for me.

Everyone deserves some kind of happiness and if happiness involves a same sex partner, who cares – certainly not me.