Why are Christians saying gays can't marry because it violates the sanctity of marriage when...?

Question

...the divorce rate among HETEROsexual couples is almost 60%? Where exactly is this 'sanctity' they are talking about?

Also, I've heard some Cons say allowing gay marriage will devestate the birth rate in this country. What, like you are going to FORCE gay folks to be hetero, FORCE them to marry the opposite sex and then FORCE them to have kids?

I'm all for gay marriage in this country, but I am trying to at least make sense of the arguments against it...and I see no logic in even ONE of them.

Answer 1

I don't understand this vehement opposition. How does it lesson one's own marriage? Or maybe I do understand it.

I'll tell you what this is in my view, if you're willing to hear some frank opinion. Some of it is outright ignorance or hate. But most of it is simple insecurity. I think the opposition to gay rights comes from a lack of self confidence of one's own social standing. That's male insecurity mind you- clearly homophobia was born of male competition over women. These men see gays as a threat to their own chances with women. If society allows homosexuals to coexist openly among heterosexuals, then these homosexuals may begin to influence women's opinions of what traits are desirable in men. Rather than controlling themselves, confident in their choice of lifestyle, interests, opinions, and how appealing they are in the eyes of women, these men panic, and demand absolute control over the rules of the game. They insist very publicly that everyone must hold the same opinions and respect the same rules. This is absurd in my mind.

Though nothing new, of course. It's simple Darwinian competition, and has been in play for millions of years. This political issue illustrates two very different approaches to life: One values working hard to make oneself a strong competitor in a game with ever-evolving rules. The other pretends the rules- and only such rules as benefit oneself- are static and absolute, then forces these fictitious rules upon all of society and punishes any skeptics or non-conformists.

Both approaches to life raise one's stock in the Darwinian game. It is undeniable that bigotry is effective. It achieves its aims. But which approach is stronger, that is, which approach ultimately will succeed in the long run? Before you answer, ask yourself one more question: Which approach is more adaptable? Well, you can see where I'm going with this. In a game of Darwinian competition the more adaptable strategy ultimately wins. So long as man remains civilized, the liberal belief wins out. It requires less energy. One manages oneself, not everyone else.

Civilization produces homosexuality. That's an uncomfortable fact to many men, but that's in our genetic makeup. Let's ask ourselves why homosexuality is more prevalent in cities. Why? Because of the reasons given above. In a city one learns very quickly that one cannot possibly manage everyone's beliefs. In rural settings, however, it is possible. People who live in rural settings are no different than their urban neighbors, it's just that one Darwinian strategy- the conservative one- plays out more favorably. Why is homosexuality more accepted in Europe? Older cities.

I believe my analysis applies to many other issues, not just the issue of gay rights. I see this political issue as one of many social conflicts that at their most basic become a struggle of the self versus the group, the individual versus the collective. Nothing new, Freud called it Civilization and its Discontents. Who you side with depends on your self-confidence regarding the Darwinian competition at stake. Do you gain more by siding with the group, or do you gain more by setting out on your own?

I have a contrarian personality, so I tend to fight the group because I rarely see it as benefiting myself. I see it as constraining me; constraining talent and ingenuity in return for familiarity and predictability. No doubt the world is a much cozier and safer place if everyone holds the same opinions, respects the same rules, and refrains from questioning Official Wisdom. It is also a much more boring place.

To quote Jim Morrison,

"How many of you are alive? How many of you people know you're really alive? You're all plastic soldiers in a miniature dirt war. I am the lizard king. I can do anything!"

A little out there, but essentially correct.

Answer 2

I don't get it either... totally clueless as to where they get their misguided logic. I agree also that it is the DIVORCE rate that is ruining the sanctity of marriage, as well as public figures such as politicians and celebrities getting married on a whim or getting a divorce at the drop of a hat. Like watching Brittany Spears get married for one night in Vegas didn't spit all over the idea of marriage??? It makes the vows meaningless when people throw it away so easily and don't honor the "through sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse". These are SERIOUS VOWS and they are not being taken seriously by heterosexual couples... since they are the only ones taking them these days. I'm not saying that gay people will necessarily do any better, but it's not like they are going to single-handedly ruin the sanctity of marriage, since the heteros have already covered that.

Answer 3

I think it's retarded. I mean, if they believe in a God that creates everything... don't they believe that god made gay people for a reason? maybe "he" wanted to help control the world population and help adoption more.... Idk, i don't believe in that but i think that people shouldn't ban gay people from getting married. what if we lived in a world where the majority was gay and a few were straight... how would the straight people feel if heterosexual marriages were banned? They should think of it like this... How would you feel if you were told you couldn't legally be with the person you love and care for? I think people need to open up. It's really sad... Think about it... You love someone of the same sex but can't get married because some asshole said that it's gross and wrong and blah blah... Where i'm from Homosexual activity is illegal.. It pisses me off... i could go on forever on this...

BTW SOME OF YOU BUTTHOLES: YOU'RE BORN GAY YOU DON'T CHOOSE IT. some people shouldn't be allowed to voice their opinions...

Answer 4

The only reason anyone is against it is because they have been programmed (by society or by religion) to believe that. Basically, all of our beliefs are programmed. The only reason something is wrong is because we say it is or it violates a basic survival need of the species. All the superficial "rights and wrongs," such as who someone can have sex with or a family with or live a happy life with, are societal constructs, even when they believe "God" said so.

You can only make sense of such arguments through sociology and you can only make people understand how these societal constructs are wrong, or at least have no logical basis, by changing society - much like with the civil rights movement and getting people to realize blacks really are people.

Answer 5

That's because there is no logic against gay marriage... and what would we ruin? If we marry, I guess the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-because-she-can marriage would be tarnished.

Answer 6

Yea, it's ok for all the breeders to get married because they accidentally got knocked up or forgot to take their birth control or whatever, and then divorce 6 months later. Such sanctity.

Answer 7

There are absolutely no just arguments for it. I live the town over from New Paltz, NY where all those weddings took place that they tried to annul and it is disgusting how people in this country think they can control another's feelings.

President Bush wants us to stay in the time of "the knights of the round table" and rule this country through the Catholic church. I always thought part of knowing history is learning from it.

Answer 8

I am for civil unions and the rights for every one to have the same protections. I think the the government needs to stay out of marriages all together. Marriage should be between God and man why should we have to ask a man for something only God can grant. The marriage license makes all marriages an abomination. In the bible the governments are listed as beasts and inviting the state into your marriage is like inviting a beast to your holy union and there for you are guilty of bestiality.

Answer 9

If everyone was a true Christian we wouldn't have that problem, however, most people just say that they are Christian and don't really know what it means to be one. I sin. I know this. I don't deserve to be called a Christian sometimes. People have to start reading the Bible, and start listening to what it says.

I am against gay marriage because God doesn't allow it. Plain and simple. If you don't believe in God, that makes it pretty hard to accept this idea. However, that is the truth, even though we don't like it. I know a lot of gay people who struggle with this. I love them all, but am against what they do. It's like loving your child, when they do something wrong. God loves everyone, but doesn't love the bad things we do. He said marriage is between a man and a woman, and I agree with that.

Answer 10

People who are against gayness search for reasons to condemn it. And by claiming the "sanctity" of straight marriage is moral leverage. It means nothing. What people choose to do with their sex/love lives does not affect me in anyway...and so I see no reason to condemn it.