Howard Moody in his article “Sacred Right or Civil Right” seeks to explore the fitness of same-sex marriage in the face of the law and religion. The author’s purpose is to make people have an in depth understanding of the issues surrounding marriage to enable them comprehend the state and the civil dimension. The article’s thesis statement is to portray that the debate on gay marriage is more about the state-church relationship and less of the legality of an intimate relationship between the same sex couples. Howard has a vast experience in religious matters making him be in a good position to explain the issue of gay marriage. The author seeks to show the church’s inability to handle the issue of gay marriage, show that …show more content…
Firstly, he uses statistics to inform people about the realities of both homosexual and heterosexual marriages to make the reader have a deep understanding of the issue. The author uses history to capture the reader’s interest in the topic by showing how the gay marriage debate has developed over the years to its current status. One of the main aims of studying historical events is to enable people understand the current environment. History to a great extent shapes the current events and it is, therefore, important for people seeking to understand today’s debate on gay marriage to study marriage history. Secondly, the author uses scriptures to persuade both religious and nonreligious people to have a broad perspective on gay marriage. The religious people can identify the shortfalls in the biblical interpretation of, thus necessitating exploration of other marriage theories. Thirdly, the author uses events in his career to provoke the readers to visualize marriage. He explains how he used to conduct premarital counseling in a way that appeared to discourage people from getting married. Such arguments make people think about what the true purpose of marriage