If You Don't Trust the State, Then How Can You Trust The FED?

In a debate on gay marriage with some friends today i came away with, a new idea. Before i mainly focused on state's rights to decide and civil unions but more equal. I have always liked to use a soda pop analogy when dealing with this to show my support of civil unions.

Let's Say you have a cup of sprite and a cup of coke. Now these represent gay marraige and traditional marriage. Let's say they are in the same (or 'equal') cup, have the same amount, and the same amount of ice, same type of lid, they both have the classic striped straw and are both equal in size. This represents the equality of marriage and a civil union. I think they should have equal rights to things such as, tax benefits, adoption rights, hospital rights etc.

Now when you look at that they are almost identical. And one could say, yes they are equal, there is no difference. Except, keep in mind, one is sprite, and one is coke. One is traditional marriage, and one is gay marriage. And history shows, the spirte was served, before the coke.

Now that is my theory on how it should be dealt with. I hate to say it but in a way, 'equal but separate.'

So regarding the new idea i got from this discussion today, involves weather it should be a state issue of federal issue. Now one of the debaters had the point that it should be federal because he did not trust the state. Now this seemed interesting to me since i thought then, if you don't trust the state, then how can you even begin to trust the fed? The fed who gave us the compassion of the IRS, the efficiency of the Post Office and the effectiveness of FIMA.

The further the law gets from the individual the worse. The state and local governments are closer to the people and can relate better than a far distant capitol in washington d.c. So how come you would trust the Federal government who gave us the entitlement crisis, over the states that gave us the black civil rights movement? Gay marriage should be left up to states. The further away we get from the people then we drift into tyranny.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
-The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.