Many readers are surprised that I, a proclaimed conservative Christian, side with one of the key arguments of the gay rights movement; that the government has no right dictating to consenting adults the terms of their relationships.

Long answer short: because I live a "deviant" lifestyle.

You see, as conservative Christians, my wife and I believe that I am the head of the household. While I respect and value my wife, the ultimate decisions are made by me, and the ultimate consequences fall on me. To put it succinctly; "The Buck Stops Here!" It's called patriarchy, and while I don't agree with the practices of many patriarchal families, I DO agree that the principle is scripturally consistent.

In  a society where most marriages are a democracy, ours is quite definitely a deviant lifestyle. And as a single income family, we are FAR from the norm.

And so, I'm able to play the "what if?" game. What if the government somehow found a way to control and illegalize our values? What if they determined "patriarchy" was an illegal practice, and said that all decisions MUST be put to a vote in our household? It's hard to conceive of how they could enforce it, true, but the same can be said of gay marriages, frankly. And it IS fair to say that the simple writing of this blog article could be viewed as evidence for an overzealous prosecutor that took offense to my values.

But what they're not realizing is, that our patriarchal values are just that: OUR values. My wife believes in this values system as much as I do. And while it would be wrong for me to look at you and demand that you accept our patriarchal views as the values system for YOUR family, it is equally wrong for you to demand that our values system is flawed. They are OUR values, and you have no right to intrude.

You see, I've learned the lesson that so many have forgotten historically. If you allow others to be persecuted for values different than your own, you stand the very real chance of facing the same persecution in the future. And it's a persecution that NOBODY should have to face.