The government has absolutely no business, whatsoever, in marriages. What happens between consenting adults is no business of the State. If two guys or two girls (or more) what to live together with a contract - what marriage is, really -, than find someone willing to celebrate such union.

Besides, "opposition" to homosexuality usually comes from a book (most probably) written by primitive men before the invention of Bronze work. Right around those passages of Leviticus, there are calls for the murder of adulterous women, rebellious children, people who worship other gods...

i could careless it's there life's not mine

If it's a religious stand point we are taking on this then who's to say, even with it as a sin, a man who loves another man is wrong for doing so? All men are equal, that's a standing in both the bible and the government. So by this standing and the fact that God is forgiving and I'd like to believe understanding, would he not forgive said men who love one another unconditionally as any man loving a woman would? Or vice versa? If two women are to love one another, it's different to men. We are all for it. However two men? That's another story then it's the screams of hate, the accusations of eternal damnation. The bible clearly states adultery is a sin, yet millions of men and women, Christians included, will have an affair. The same people will turn right around and throw homosexuality onto a crucifix. 

It is not up to us as humans to judge nor condemn. Should when a homosexual man or woman pass, they be judged as sinners, unfit for salvation, leave that to the man up stairs. As humans put upon this earth by God we are told to love one another correct? So how can we hate one for a sin when we commit just as many as they, it may not be the same sin, may not be in the same manner. However some where along the line of our lives we all have sinned, some form or another. If you believe in your heart in the words of God and Jesus Christ, is that not what you were meant to do? 

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. - Romans 15:7

It's good to read a Christian consistent with some of the scriptures: judge not for fear of being judged yourself.

I feel that everybody has the right to be happy. I support gay marriage.

Any decent Christian will say that engaging in homosexual activity is a sin against both God and nature. However, this has nothing to do with a country. If you believe that marriage is a bond between a man and a woman caused by God, then it really doesn't matter what a nation tries to do, they're not married. They might be getting joint income, but they're not married. The state may even call it married, but they're not married. And frankly my dear, I don't think its something the government should prevent. Go ahead, give gays joint income. Let them have ceremonies. But a good Christian will not support the homosexual activity. A good congregation/pastor/priest will not let them use the church building.

Note: I have no agenda to force you against your will to do what I say. I have no problem with you getting tax breaks for this. I don't support your sin though, and I will say this all my life.

Normally I read other posts and award a few hundred vizz to the person that speaks my mind when questions like this come up.

This time?

I decided to speak up.

I want a world where everyone that wants to hook up... to hook up.
But...
I also want a world where everyone is free to believe what ever faith they want.
That said.
I do not see why it is under discussion of what a church does.
I believe that everyone has the right to be happy though.
So, I propose that all the gay people buy their own land, and build their own place of cerimonies, create their own new religion, and devise a new word for the dictionary to define the union of two people.
I see no need to spend millions of dollars fighting one specific religion with the use of lawyers in an argument that just wastes time and goes no where.
Just a thought.

Why destroy another's belief system when you have the freedom to create your own?
The answer is most likely rebellion and revenge.
I cannot support gay marriage in a church and ask men of faith to tell their deity to take a hike.
I can support the idea of a new religion, new place of worship, and a new form of tradition. You know? Pioneer style. Revolution style.
I see enough destruction and hatred every day on the news.
Why be part of the problem? When you can be a solution?
Again it's just a thought.

Good Luck To All.
I'm done. Stick a fork in me.
Peace.

Orion, to an extent I agree. But when you say they should buy their own land, all I can think is the extremists who scream "Send the gays away, we don't want them here!" I'm rather sure that's not what you meant, and what you meant was buy property to have their church or synagogue or what ever they call it. However my mind can't get around the hate of homosexuality for a fellow Christian because of something they can't help. Any one who has fallen in love can vouch, they don't control who they love, it happens. I had never intended to fall in love when I did, I loved that girl more than life itself. A man falling in love with another man? Is no different. He can't help who he loves. As I had said before, let God sort those he deems unworthy, it's our job has his children to love and accept one another despite not agreeing. 

And that's where my involvement in this discussion from a religious stand point takes the backseat for a moment and my involvement as a Marine comes forth. Just as I may not agree with your right to slander homosexuality and disagree with it, or I may not agree with homosexuality if the case may be... I'll gladly stand and fight for your right to voice your opinions on it. It doesn't matter if you are gay, straight, bisexual, trans gender, or celibate, you are human. You were put here by God, to live your life. At the end of your life, he'll decide if you lived the way he wanted you to or not. But by hating some one for their sins, voluntary or not, you aren't living the way you were meant to. 

Religiously, homosexuality may be a sin, it may be against the church, but so have a million other things that suddenly? Were changed, suddenly? Not as big a deal. Adultery is a sin, yet again, happens every day, by Christians and non-Christians alike. To be treated as a God yourself is a sin, yet as a Catholic, the Pope his regarded so highly he might as well BE God. Nothing is said of that. Working on a Sunday is a direct violation of the Ten Commandments, millions of Christians do it. Am I saying disregard the bible? Toss it aside and do as you please because it doesn't matter anyways? Not in the slightest. I'm saying stop worrying how others live their lives and worry more about your own. Let he who is with out sin cast the first stone. I promise you, no matter how 'minor' you call the sin, you can not cast the first stone. A sin is a sin yes. However by that same definition, love is love.

orionfoxgibson : What's really mind-boggling is how you, and many other Christians for that matter, seem to think your religion has a monopoly on marriage. Marriage is an institution that predates every existing religion and is universal to every known culture. No one group has exclusive rights to marriage, which is why it is currently a government-run institution. Every day, people who are not Christian, or even religious get married.

Get over yourselves.

Traduweise : If marriage is a union by God, then it has nothing to do with us. It has to do with God. Christianity believes God unites only a man and a woman. We say this not because we "[have] a monopoly on marriage", but because this is how we think God works. If God does not unite, it is not a marriage. God unites the Muslim men and women. It is still adultery for them to cheat on their wives. There is no monopoly. It is our belief that God does not unite same-sex couples.

P.S. A wedding service, in my belief, does not unite. No service is needed. No witnesses, no priest, no legal documents.

If people do not like what I said?
Tuff.
I created a solution.
Instead of being thankful they complain.
Good Luck with that logic.

The only people who wins in your arguement is the "Blood Sucking Lawyers".

I said what I said and am not going to fix a word of it.
It is not my fight or problem.
Plus this issue has wasted enough of my time.
Good Luck Again.

Good Luck To All.
I'm done. Stick a fork in me.
Peace.

Txgangsta : Touching, but irrelevent. Marriage is a union performed by the government. Which is why atheists also get married. You are free to believe what you please concerning your own marriage, but that doesn't apply to anyone else.

EDIT:


orionfoxgibson: Your solution is bad and insulting. Nobody is going to thank you for it.

Traduweise : If you noted my last line, should know that I don't think that the government performs the union, but you seem more worried about what happens to the atheists. God actually unites there too. Even if they deny his existence, God is still the one uniting. I mean, he's still causing your existence, isn't he? At least he is interacting with all atheists that way.

Also, if you'll pretend my definition of marriage for a moment, you'll see I don't care what the government does or what they call marriage outside of Christianity. When I say "gays can't marry", I'm not using a governmental "lets give these guys joint income" definition. I'm saying "this isn't how God works". Also, I rarely ever use the phrase "gays can't marry".

If the question is "should the government give gay couples joint income?" then I actually say yes. Right now they are discriminating. I dislike it and would like to see it ended.

P.S. I'm a junior in college, philosophy major. My roommate is gay. Not just a little gay, but rather flaming. He's also one of my best friends. So sad he's graduating in May.

Txgangsta : That's the thing, though. The government does perform the union. What your religious traditions regarding marriage are has no bearing on a secular governmental institution. If you just want to say that homosexuals cannot become married in the Christian tradition of marriage, fine, although you may find that your belief is not universal among Christians.

Either way, marriage is not a tradition shared only among Christians. It is, as I said, universal to all cultures and predates modern religions. You're free to keep your Christian form of marriage, but don't think that others have to play by your religious rules.

"That's the thing, though. The government does perform the union. What your religious traditions regarding marriage are has no bearing on a secular governmental institution."

That's basically how I feel about this issue. In Canada where I live, gay marriage is legal everywhere, and people can become Canadian citizens through same-sex marriages. I can thank the fact that we do not live in a theocracy where all of the citizens are subjected to the rules of any religion. (Psst.. America is not a theocracy either!) Gay marriage becoming legal, at least in the eyes of the government, is just a matter of time.

Traduweise : "If you just want to say that homosexuals cannot become married in the Christian tradition of marriage, fine..."

I hate that your language demands that my religion be false. I can just as easy talk about what you believe is false. Perhaps you will learn civility over time.

"...although you may find that your belief is not universal among Christians."

I strongly doubt if those people are Christians beyond their own definition of themselves.

"You're free to keep your Christian form of marriage, but don't think that others have to play by your religious rules."

Forcing people against their will is not Christian, but much closer to the modern definition of a cult. They do not have to obey Christian laws, although my doing so is not without reason.

Any further discussion will be off-topic, so until next time.

Txgangsta : I said nothing about your religion being false. It is simply irrelevent to law assuming a secular government.

Incidentally, there are Christian churches that have no problem marrying same-sex couples. Perhaps you could learn from them instead of assuming they must be wrong.

I keep an open mind and accept it. What sense is it for two people who hate each other to have more of a right to mirage then two gay people who love each other. As said above, if they want to be miserable like the rest of us, let them do it. Also, the bible says 'love thy neighbor.', and God loves us all equally. So I can not see how people can't wrap their heads around it. Plus, there are way bigger problems to think about. One MORE thing, the bible was written by man, not by God. And it has been modified through the years of even being around. So much that their even going to change it again for teens to get into it.

I've got no problem with gay people as long as the fact is not metaphorically, 'Shoved down my throat'... metaphorically... but the concept of two people getting married was introduced by the church and so I think they should have the right to marry who they think their religion says should be married. Correct me if I'm wrong but that was what civil partnerships were for in the first place? For people who didn't want to be married with Christianity? And is homosexuality not approved of by Christianity anyway?