Saying that Gays shouldn’t be able to get married for any reason is like saying Blacks shouldn’t marry Whites, because marriage just isn’t ready for that, right? Besides, if I can quote Family Guy “So, wait, you’re telling me that two people who hate each other can get married while two people in love can’t?” I’ve seen plenty of married couples who hate each other’s guts.

Plus, other countries have already made gay marriage legal. It’s not fair to move from one of those countries to this one and be told that your marriage is illegal and null here. I haven’t seen those countries collapse in on themselves or lose all of the ’sanctity of marriage’. Pfft, sanctity of marriage died over a decade ago, and I doubt that it’ll return.

Oh yeah, and saying that no one gives you a reason for gay marriage being legal is utter bull. If you bother to actually speak to people with really strong ideas then you will get a response, trust me.

1. Is the allowance of gay marriage mandated by the Constitution?
2. Is the allowance of gay marriage a good idea?

As to 1, I would argue that it’s not. It’s interesting that in the last 30 or so years “homosexual” has become a trait that pervades every part of a person’s life if they identify that way, while before that it was seen as what it is: a behavioral preference. Just by saying “I’m gay” instead of saying “I’m sexually attracted to persons of the same sex” does wonders to how people think about the issue, and puts it into a box that looks like an Equal Protection issue under the 14th Amendment when really that’s not what it is at all. Lawrence v. Texas is bullshit–just read Scalia’s dissent.

And when it comes down to it, there’s no rational distinction between gay and polygamous for purposes of Constitutional interpretation. So is this the result we want?

As to 2, I think that’s a much more difficult question. The States should be free to regulate morality. If not, then you have problems with prostitution, gambling, and other issues. And if the majority wants it to be exclusively male-female then what’s the problem? The government is simply making a statement as to preferred morality, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

A tangential issue of course is discrimination in other contexts. Personally, I think employment decisions should be limited to things that are rationally related to employment, e.g. that who you have sex with or whether you smoke tobacco off-work has nothing to do with whether you get hired or get a raise. Obviously you shouldn’t lose the right to vote because of what you do in your free time, and all people should be given the protection of the criminal law regardless of what they think, feel, and do (even murderers can’t be murdered with impunity).

I’m not sure if I’ve really contributed to this debate, but I hope I did. I’m always worried about heading off name-calling attacks (bigot) by people who fail to see the merit of my arguments because they simply don’t agree.

As for your other arguments (polygamy, etc.) These were also used when America debated letting people of different races marry. We can vividly see that history does indeed repeat itself. How about a nice gay holocaust- we’d not have to argue about this point ever again.

The one thing I will have to disagree with you on is the comment made about” People whom have known each other a short time could not be married.” its not about how long you have known the person its about pure commitment to your spouse, working through every aspect of your marriage, and the tough one for me, ‘communication’. Jeff and I have friends from INDIA who had an arranged marriage. You look at them and know that they are in it for the long run. They are making it work and so do many other couples. Jeff and I are another example. We knew each other for 3 months and it was all long distance. We are committed to each other and in it for the long run. I will not say that we will not make mistake because that would be a lie, we are human. Just remember you may think you know someone when you marry them and you think you know them well, but after the first few years things start to change. LOL! The ooh feeling starts to diminished and it starts to be work. Not saying you will never have that ooh feeling ever again for your spouse, but Im saying it is no longer an everyday feeling. Here in America we are all about feelings, and we tend to be self centered when it comes to our feelings.
Love is not a feeling its a gift. Its a gift to be used wisely and never taken for granite.

As for gay marriage, I do not think it should be an option. My reason has to do with a couple reasons. One being I am a follower of Jesus christ, and in his book on life (BIBLE) he says a man should leave his mother and cling to his wife. Another reason, say the government does okay gay marriage what’s not to say in a few years following that change they will make a change for polygamist, bestiality and petophila. Not saying I put gays in and amongst these other groups, Im just saying it will open the doors to other things. I am all for civil unions! A gay couple can love and cherish each other just as a heterosexual couple can. There’s no question about that.

I hope you get what Im saying, because I’m not one for writing. You are a great writer with words. Jeff and I really enjoyed your response to this issue. Marriage should never be taken lightly. Great debate!

Talk with you later,
Chrissy

There’s no need to marriage reform. Jewish people have been getting divorced since the time of Christ. If you believe the bible, he even comments on that issue. It’s not going to go away. You can’t force people to have a “waiting period” before they get married.

You can’t legislate love. That idea is ridiculous. People are always going to get divorced. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. The world will keep on turning as people get married over and over again. If this is the greatest problem America has to face, I’d say we’re in VERY good shape.