Same-Sex Marriage – Can someone please explain to me why same-sex marriage is a bad thing? Seriously, please explain to me why a man and a man or a woman and a woman should not be able to marry. I will add only one qualifier, if you say that it is wrong because the Bible says so, I will not accept that answer. My reasoning is that if marriage is a religious act, then the government should have no say in it.
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I think you’re going to have a hard time arguing that marriage is in no way a religious act. If not, then why do most states allow it to be performed by a religious institution? If marriage is entirely civil, then why wouldn’t the religious ceremony be completely ceremonial and separate, and marriage just like obtaining another license? In which case it seems that a civil union would be exactly the same as marriage and adequate to fulfill governments responsibilities.
I think perhaps a more pressing question is what do we define as marriage? If we allow men & men, or women & women, then why not cousins? Or 2 men and a women? Or brother and sister? After all, as long as everyone’s a consenting adult, what’s the problem? We’ve clearly decided that marriage as an institution primarily geared at raising children is an outdated concept. And if gay unions (which by definition would produce no biological children) are sanctioned, what about the others?
To be honest, as a married, educated, Christian, male I don’t know exactly how I feel about the issue. Part of me detests the idea of any type of discrimination, while part of me is uncomfortable with the idea of marriage as anything other than a union between a husband and wife. The constitutionalist in me says that this is a matter best left to the states, and that the national government should stay out, that this is exactly the reason we have a federal system in the first place, to allow individuals in the different states to determine their own standards and laws. I can only look with regret upon a modern idea that children don’t deserve 2 loving stable parents, and the idea that parents would intentionally bring children into the world without even making the effort to secure their future in the event of their sickness, death, or other circumstance beyond their control. At the same time, I strongly believe that greater education, and independence for women has been a positive force, and one of the most significant social developments in the last 50 years.
If all that didn’t make sense, I guess it’s because I’m human and have mixed reactions. I don’t think the issue of homosexual marriage is as simple however as a question between discrimination vs. the sanctity of marriage. Perhaps what needs to be done is to give everybody civil unions and be done with it. Or maybe we should follow the example of 10,000 years of recorded history and custom. Or maybe we do need to make gradual steps. The one thing I do know is that it’s something I would rather see worked out in the states, without a rush to try and impose a single solution upon the entire nation. Social experimentation perhaps.
Same-sex Marriage
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Same-Sex Marriage – [ “(extlink)TooMuchSexy Blog”:http://www.toomuchsexy.org ]
I think you’re going to have a hard time arguing that marriage is in no way a religious act. If not, then why do most states allow it to be performed by a religious institution? If marriage is entirely civil, then why wouldn’t the religious ceremony be completely ceremonial and separate, and marriage just like obtaining another license? In which case it seems that a civil union would be exactly the same as marriage and adequate to fulfill governments responsibilities.
I think perhaps a more pressing question is what do we define as marriage? If we allow men & men, or women & women, then why not cousins? Or 2 men and a women? Or brother and sister? After all, as long as everyone’s a consenting adult, what’s the problem? We’ve clearly decided that marriage as an institution primarily geared at raising children is an outdated concept. And if gay unions (which by definition would produce no biological children) are sanctioned, what about the others?
To be honest, as a married, educated, Christian, male I don’t know exactly how I feel about the issue. Part of me detests the idea of any type of discrimination, while part of me is uncomfortable with the idea of marriage as anything other than a union between a husband and wife. The constitutionalist in me says that this is a matter best left to the states, and that the national government should stay out, that this is exactly the reason we have a federal system in the first place, to allow individuals in the different states to determine their own standards and laws. I can only look with regret upon a modern idea that children don’t deserve 2 loving stable parents, and the idea that parents would intentionally bring children into the world without even making the effort to secure their future in the event of their sickness, death, or other circumstance beyond their control. At the same time, I strongly believe that greater education, and independence for women has been a positive force, and one of the most significant social developments in the last 50 years.
If all that didn’t make sense, I guess it’s because I’m human and have mixed reactions. I don’t think the issue of homosexual marriage is as simple however as a question between discrimination vs. the sanctity of marriage. Perhaps what needs to be done is to give everybody civil unions and be done with it. Or maybe we should follow the example of 10,000 years of recorded history and custom. Or maybe we do need to make gradual steps. The one thing I do know is that it’s something I would rather see worked out in the states, without a rush to try and impose a single solution upon the entire nation. Social experimentation perhaps.