Gay Marriage, isn't this a religious issue?

Question

Okay, to my understanding marriage is a religious thing. Marriage is something sanctioned by god or cermonies/rituals for other religions. So why is the government involved? I thought there is something in the consitution stating "separation of church and state." If ppl who are homosexual want to get married I think that is something that should be up to the priest or person who marries them. The only reason I can see that it would be a state problem is when it comes down to taxes and things as such. Is that what the deal is over? I personally don't care who gets married to whom, thats a personal choice, but I'm just trying to understand why such the fuss?

Answer 1

Civil marriage (i.e. the license you get when you get married) is not religious in any way, shape or form. It is in its very nature controlled by the government and government thus has the right and responsibility to define it. I don't think it should do so in a way that blatantly discriminates against a group like homosexuals, but it is most certainly within the government's prerogative to define marriage. If you find a church that agrees to, you can have a wedding ceremony to whomever or whatever you like, but only the government can decide if the government is going to recognize it.

Answer 2

people are allowed to marry when the state issues them a license to do so.In the absence of a state issued license people cannot get married. Without a state issued license a religious official cannot pronounce you man and wife. Think about it the last thing that a religious ofiicial says prior to a couple actuallyy beoming married is "And so by the power vested in me by the state of.......I now pronounce you man and wife "
Therefore it is a state issue. Therefore it becomes a Constitutional issue because all state law must conform to the Constitution.
A marriage license grants two people incredible rights and responsibilities over each other.
It is interesting that of all the licenses that a state issues a marriage license has the fewest restrictions. In any state in America it is easier to get a marriage license than a license to serve food.
That is the crux of the problem.
What is required for marriage in most states in America ?
be of legal age -hopefully 18 although younger is OK if your parenys say so
Not be mentally disabled due to either biology or intoxicants
and be at least second cousins- thats it!
There is no mention of how you will earn a living ? where you will live? are you going to school? did you come from an abusive home ?do you do drugs ?drink? do you love each other ?NOTHING
The state in a rather naive way believes in love and shows faith in those that do too.
The 14th Amendment grants equal protection under the law to all. Within that framework ;what is the reason for the state to deny gay people a marriage liscence ?
All argument for denial are dead ends
" The purpose of marriage is to create a stable and sane environment to raise children . it is the hope of society at large that such chidren will grow up to be productive adults"
This is a dead end. It makes having children a condition of marriage. If you don't have children by either chance or choice are you married?
Gay marriage is a threat to hetero sexual marriage. on the long list of reasons that marriages fail gay marriage doesn't make the top 500- unless of course one of the partners is intimatley involved with one of the gay people down the street. Gay marriage is a threat to the dogma of the church
So what's left ? sexual practices ? well everyone does one act and a significantly larger amount of gay people do the other but there are heteros who do it. Another dead end ,you can't make sexual practices a condition of marriage
Lastly, when all else fails , the religious right brings out this one: the Fall of Rome. The claim is that Rome fell in 476 AD not because of the Germanic tribes , no because their lives of debauchery finally caught up to them. They claim that this is the reason against gay marriage. should we allow it our empire will fall also.. nice story , one little flaw, the 800 years after the fall were called the Dark Ages, the 800 years preceding the fall were called the golden ages of Greece and then Rome. Is it possible that there is a relationship between sexual and religious freedom ?
So what is the legal basis for denying gay people the right to marry ? I don't think there is any
Furthermore the Full faith and credit clause of the Constitution basically says that a valid contract in one state is valid in all states.

Answer 3

To put it simply, yes marriage is a religious thing. However, marriage also gives people some rights as to benefits such as life insurance for a spouse, health benefits, etc. Gay people are asking for the same LEGAL rights as heterosexual couples. Personally, I think we should allow that. I don't see any problem with a loving couple having benefits. But that basically is why the government (and the laws) are involved in this gay marriage issue.

Answer 4

Of course you're right. It is, from a constitutional standpoint, a matter of religious and personal freedom.

Its a bit disingenuous to ask what the fuss is about. I can't believe that anyone with the tiniest bit of sense has any doubt that this is about the fact that the overwhelming majority of voters have a problem with Gays.

I've been around long enough to remember legally enforced segregation and the days when it was illegal for non-whites and whites to marry each other.

[In fact, my first marriage was actually against the law because I'm part Asian and my wife was a Caucasian. Luckily, the dim witted Justice of the Peace who performed the marriage was more concerned because my wife (she's Sicilian) was fairly dark skinned. He questioned her about her racial background but ignored mine.]

All the arguments that people made back then about interracial marriage are the same they now make about Gay marriage. And, oddly enough, its many of the same organizations that argued for segregation and white supremacy then that argue against Gays now.

You may find it hard to believe but people seriously argued that interracial marriages were "unnatural" and against the will of God. They said that it would destroy the institution of marriage and that if you let white people marry blacks that "the next thing they will want to do is marry their pet dog."

Its all about hate and the haters today are pretty much the haters of yesterday.

Answer 5

The problem is not with gay marriage but with getting votes. I am a lesbian, I have been with my wife for almost four years, we do not want children and we do not parade our relationship. But there are other issues. Some people do not want their children seeing gay couples kissing and etc. Well I guess it never occured to thm that if they didn't want to see a gay couple kissing, they themselves shouldn't be doing it in public either. It's not fair for something to be okay for one person but not the next,it is utterly disgusting to me. And these people who say is the sanctionary of god and so on havn't been reading their bible. It says in revelations that when the end of the days were coming that God would take away the lust for the oppisite sex.I guess some people chose which part of the bible to follow. And anyways on a more personal note. What I do is my decision. I have to face God for any of MY sins They don't have to face god for what I do just me, I am responsible for my actions no one else. My father is a preacher and so is my girlfriend's father, different religions, but both believe that when its time We will face God and we will do so Together. And Gay marriage has absoulty NOTHING to do with beastality or child molesters-

Homosexuality is between TWO consenting adults.

Beastality is between a consenting person and an animal.

Child molesting is between an adult and a child/ minor. Which is someone who is not willing or does not know any better.

And please don't give me the b/s about not reproducing any children, that is the biggest load of cr*p I have ever heard, someone needs to take a look at how many abortions are being had each day by MINORS alone.
And hon taxes are not a big issue if the legalized gay marriage each state would get more money. If you are single you get more back on your income tax than if you are married, hmmm..... So sweetie as you can see there is no real issue except people like Bush who just wish to give America something else to focus on besides the war in Iraq. It has absoulty nothing to do with us gay people, but everything to do with politics and votes.


Oh and on another note, its not lesbians everyone's against its just gay men, Did you know the number ONE selling porn is Lesbian porn.... hmmm wonder why......... I guess its okay to be against it in public but go home and watch two girls later on at night.....

Answer 6

If you take it to the basics, there shouldn't be any problem with any two people who wish to marry. The separation of church and state is a pretty blunt separation. However...

People forget that we are a democracy, and right now we have a lot of lazy apathetic people who aren't getting off the lazy rears and voting! Because of this, a well organized minority is dictating the rules of the land.

The battle of 'Gay Marriage' belongs in the private sector, not in the government sector.

Today there are two different types of marriage, the religious which is normaly performed in a place of worshop, and civil which is normaly performed by Justace of the Peace.

From the goverement's point of view it shouldn't make any difference, a married couple is simply that... a married couple.

Answer 7

The government WILL give in to gay marriages, because "gayness" is becoming THE THING. Not only that, but the Bible speaks of the "end days" as being worse than Sodom and Gomorrah, where everyone was having sex with everyone, and even the children were having sex out in the streets. So, don't worry about it...one day gay marriages will be "approved", and so will sex with a child. No, I am not a pervert to say this. Watch and see. What we once saw as wrong, sinful, or perverted, becomes "the norm". It has happened all through the generations. And it will keep happening until this evil world has come to an end. People simply do not blush about sin anymore.

Answer 8

You are right. The constitution does state that the church shall be seperate from the state. That was so that one could not rule the other. Marriage should not be done by a Justice of the Peace either. They are government employees too. But our government can't keep their noses out of anything, and more so if there is money to be made from it, so they ignore the constitution and stick their noses in it anyway.
The question should not even be brought up in elections. It should be decided by the leaders of the different churches. I've often wondered too why the government feels that they should sell the licenses to get married. That too should be handled by the church. But the government saw it as a way to make more money.

Answer 9

You are too right about the separation of church and state. Unfortunately, that separation has shrunk drastically. Taxes wouldn't actually cause a problem. If the government would treat ALL marriages and civil unions the same, the tax system is already set up to deal with it. The problem stems from people not being willing to accept different people. If the government could just get over it, the problem might (key word: might) be solved.

Answer 10

that is an problem because there is an apprehension that permitting 2 adult males or 2 females to marry will damage down the structure of marriage by some potential. That 2 human beings's own selections will by some potential effect others. there is also the element about how marriage will make adoption more effective instantly ahead, and therefore positioned little ones in probability, it really is blatantly homophobic. The self-defeating argument is "a baby raised through homosexuals will replica their moms and dads and develop into gay" even even if if little ones without delay copied their figure's sexuality, there does no longer be gay human beings in any respect. also, you'll locate that human beings who do not pick gay marriage are often antagonistic to different religions besides, often times as, yet frequently a lot less strongly. both homosexuality and different religions are taught to be incorrect contained in the bible, yet because there is also the social element antagonistic to homosexuality (I received't bypass into my theories about that the following) that is more effective instantly ahead to rage antagonistic to the gays than that is to rage antagonistic to each and each body else in a society it truly is meant to be 'tolerant'.

Answer 11

The problem is that marriage is NOT always religious. Plenty of people are married in a courthouse. The problem is that marriage CAN be a very important religious ceremony. When people stop thinking about it as a right and only focus on what their religious beliefs about it are, we have a major clash.

Legalizing gay marriage shouldn't be about the church. Everyone is free to have their own beliefs, and if you are against gay marriage, you don't have to participate. But everyone should have the RIGHT to be with the person of their choosing.

Maintain separation of church and state.