Gay Marriage

I think gay people should be as miserable as the rest of married folks.

Joe(serious notes to follow)Nation

Easy solution - give the RC church the heave ho.

I don't believe in God or the 'one, true soulmate" concepts so I really can't help you. Good luck.

That happens to people, sadly most, who are afraid of not having someone that they rush into relationships, Mame.

I was also raised as a Christian, though not a Catholic and I maintain those beliefs today. However, regardless of what is stated by the Pope, the Bible itself states that we must love one another and leave judgments to be made by God himself. This tells us that we should love all as God loves us, regardless of sexual orientation. Treating any others with disdain because you are a Christian and they don’t share your views and beliefs truly counteracts the Christian values projected by Jesus himself.

While religious beliefs may be central in your life, I think that it’s also important to consider our environment. Being an American (as I assume you are as well), we should look to our Constitution. As Thomas Jefferson stated, the First Amendment created a “wall of separation” between the church and the state. This establishes that the government should not necessarily associate itself or involve itself in any one religion. The fact that gay marriage is illegal is, in fact, a religious issue. By taking a stance on the validity of gay marriage, the government is taking a religious stance.

However, many do point out that marriage itself is a religious act, though it does have many political and economic benefits. This being said, I do see the value in changing the name from “marriage” to “civil union” or something of the like while maintaining these benefits. Calling it something different would most certainly alleviate some of the concerns voiced by activists that have major issues with this matter.

I believe that you can maintain your religious beliefs while still supporting
civil unions.


---ARR

Practice your religion, support Gay marriage, and let God sort it all out later. Love one another is Christ's golden rule.

ARR, You make a good argument, and I agree, but I think it is harder for someone with a RC background to get to that point. On one hand it is about love and on the other it is about a lifetime of practice within that religeon. She may have more trouble accepting that than someone who is not RC.

Because the poster is struggling with her religion versus her desire to support equal opportunity in marriage, I believe she needs to look further into her own opinions in this topic. Yes, it's easy to glaze over the issue and accept the view of the Roman Catholic church, but with this issue especially it's important to look into it personally. Her stated belief that "everyone should have an equal opportunity to marry " makes it necessary to really analyze her religious views and question what and why she believes them.

When you struggle with an issue that challenges your personal beliefs and the beliefs of something larger that you are involved with, I believe that it's important to look to a primary source. In this case, the Bible and the Constitution are great sources. My analysis of these things led me to my belief that you can maintain your religious beliefs while still supporting civil unions. However, the poster can, of course, come to a different conclusion based on her study of these documents. Regardless, it's important to look to these sources in this challenged belief. This allows her to make a decision that both considers and respects her religious beliefs and her personally formulated beliefs.

Who decides what is right or wrong about others’ lives? There are two sides to every decision and the grass always appears greener on the other side. Is homosexuality unethical, should they be treated any differently than someone that isn’t, or will they continue to live in a world in which they are frowned upon? Homosexuals are born the way any human being is. They grow up in a family and do things that any normal kid would like dance, play sports, and do art related things. In most situations I have heard of the kid is accepted in society as a normal person until they come out as being homosexual. As adults, non-homosexuals get the right to have kids of their own and/or adopt kids; they also get the right to marry, get insurance together, and live a happy life with the person they love. Homosexuals on the other hand are only allowed to get married in five states and one district (Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia). They are not allowed to adopt children because people feel that it is not a good place to stick kids in a home with two male partners and no true mother figure. Taking this in account, couples consisting of two female parents can have kids of their own due to artificial insemination. So is it fair to male partners to say they are not allowed to have kids when virtually everyone else can? The constitution itself says that “all men are created equal”. If that is the case, then gay marriage should be acceptable. If all men are created equal, then everyone should be able to marry their soul mate or have the opportunity to raise a kid of their own. The insurance company Cigna allows a person to get insurance on their dog, yet only allows insurance on a significant other if they are not of the same sex. Animals have been noted to be homosexual. It’s been documented that animals such as dolphins, killer whales, male lions as well as dwarf chimpanzees. Homosexuality is not just among humans, instead it is a more widespread phenomenon than most people realize. Darwin’s theory of evolution states that we are derived from monkeys. In a sense if monkeys show homosexual behaviors, then technically we are getting those behaviors from them. People don’t tend to look at animals that display homosexual behavior and decide they don’t like that animal based on that. Sometimes it might help to take a step back and look at the bigger picture before passing judgment. Homosexuals will be there whether people like to think so or not, they are present and no one can change their beliefs. We should honor the constitution when it says “All men are created equal”. If you think about it, colored people used to live like this. They were once slaves to the white race, but now they are treated as equals and are accepted in society. I think it’s time to do the same with homosexuals.

-CG PHI1103, IRSC

Religious organizations do not perform marriages, they perform weddings. What it says on that piece of paper you get from your State is
Marriage License.

The State, in its role as protector of the public interest, oversees both the coming together (marriage) and dissolution (divorce) of persons within its environs. It does that because there are many factors and effects that a marriage/divorce bring to society as a whole. There are property rights and taxes, in some areas the funding of local schools is dependent upon the type and kind of households reported to the census.

Please note that a religion's granting of a divorce or a wedding, without the sanction of the State, is legally meaningless.

Same sex marriage does not in any way, shape, form or fashion impede on the ability or freedom for any religious organization to continue to perform weddings. Nor, as the US Federal Court in California has ruled, does the existence of such same sex marriages impede upon the rights of those already married, either in a church or at the local Courthouse.

Joe(let us always seek the greatest amount of freedom in this free nation)Nation

We all live in a very develop world. I think it's normal everyone to have equal rights no matter what our sexuality is. On the other hand no everyone are so liberal to new understandings.Independently of sexuality people can get to each other and they have the right to be happy in this life.