Separate Church and state, why no gay marriage?

Question

This is something I never understood. In America we are supposed to have separation of Church and State... yet gay marriage is not allowed because the Bible states marriage is between a man and a woman?

I'm not against either side here, I'm just curious and want to know why this is.

Sincere answers, please.

Answer 1

It used to be against the law for whites to marry brown people. It used to be against the law for women to own property. It used to be against the law for a woman to get an abortion- even if she was raped, molested, or it was known she would die in child-birth.

Laws reflect the values of the cultures that make them. Luckily for America, we are becoming more and more aware of the prejudice, bigotry, and short-sightedness of SOME of the people who have made laws in the past, and we are taking action to change it.

I believe that eventually, the public will become more aware of the homosexual issues at stake, and the laws of the land will follow. In the meantime, we should all do our part to advance the cause for our friends who are living under the bigotry of the laws that are currently in place.

Answer 2

The words separation of Church and State is not in the constitution or the bill of rights, as Larry King found out the other night on his show. The phrase was in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to a church that was concerned that the State would put some kind of limitations on it. The church was concerned because it remembered the history of the government in England at the time. Jefferson assured them that this government would not dictate the business of the Church because the State was seperate from the Church and would not display authority over it. Jefferson never intended to disallow the Church to be involved with the State. In fact, history shows that the Church was heavily involved and that most of our founding fathers were Christians and quoted the Bible often in their daily routines.

Answer 3

There is no separation of church and state and never has been. A person who has been religious all their lives who then enters politics takes with them all their religious ideals and views. These ideals shape what that politician stands and fights for while in office. Separation is a grand view and would be nice but it's impossible since religion is inbred from childhood. The only way separation would work is if the candidate was Atheist/Agnostic, but then they wouldn't get the position because Theists would vote them out. It's a never ending circle.

Answer 4

Because many people mistakenly believe that if gay marriage were legal that churches would be forced to perform rites that they don't beleve in. This is ridicuous. Churches can and do refuse to perform marriages all the time. I know several heterosexual couples who had to shop for a church which would marry them.

In marry countries the church wedding is not a legal marriage; the marriage only becomes legal at a civil ceremony. I think America should adopt that system

Answer 5

Well, no. We don't have gay marriage in America because there are financial benefits that spouses are entitled to that the powers that be don't want to pay (like social security and insurance, etc.) and so they throw up the religion card as a smoke screen to incite the faithful. It's ridiculous how the religious right are now being played by the government - anytime the government needs a large and loud reaction, they mention the bible. Sickening really - though there are lot of laws on the books (blue laws) that were inspired and driven by religious lobbyists.

Peace!

Answer 6

I think, in order to preserve Separation of Church and State, where the church cannot run the government and the government cannot run the church, a middle ground has to be found. First, the government cannot ban gay marriage because that would be, presumably, a religious law. Second, the government cannot adopt gay marriage, because that would be establishing a law which goes against Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. You see, if the government is supposed to be neutral, and yet they adopt gay marriage, they would essentially be saying, "We don't care what your religious book says, we think this act is not sinful". So what middle ground can be found? The government should simply do nothing. The government should neither condemn homosexuality nor endorse it. Sometimes to preserve peace you have to make compromises, so the religious fanatics should agree not to try to ban gay marriage if people stop trying to push to adopt gay marriage. Regardless, we shouldn't try to impose our absolute view. Throughout history when someone has tried to impose their view without regard for his opponents, bad things ensued. I could elaborate but hopefully you get the point. The government should simply do nothing - let gays be gay, but don't officially endorse it.

Answer 7

You know why this is still an issue in America? Because crazy Christians have found their advocate in Bush II. I am a Christian, well I like to clarify and say Catholic after my non-Christian friends thought I was a part of the Evangelical branch, and I can call them crazy, they are a part of my religious group. These people are opposed to gay marriage because they view a marriage ceremony done in front of the eyes of God...which is only done in the Christian church to my knowledge, maybe in Judaism as well. I would love to marry my boyfriend and he is a Muslim so according to these "Christians" my marriage will be a sin because he is not Christian. Our fore fathers would be SO disappointed in this country if they knew religion was such an important factor in determining if two people who love each other can get married. So I guess I'll see you in hell since these "Christians" deem our actions inappropriate! HA

Answer 8

Her is an even better question.........Where does everybody get this "separation of Church and State" thing. Read it again. I believe that it says the government will not make laws forcing people to belong to any certain religion. It was not meant to separate the mention of GOD from any public forum but to prevent the government from doing here what had been done in England. The first people did come here seeking religious freedom from governments that were forcing them to do just that. This country was founded on the principles of GOD. In the first schools here the BIBLE was required reading. Man has tried to shove GOD out of every thing.

Answer 9

It's really not so much that the Church can tell the state what to do... but the politicians and law makers dont want to lose votes. If they're in a state where the majority of the voters are Christian, they will probably lean toward the majority, same with states that are not predominantly Christian.

Answer 10

to me, marriage is an institution strictly santioned from God. Its the legal God recognized union of a man and women..
otherwise two partners could just have a legal document to say they are legalized to co habit under law.. But the term "marriage" is to me to be only used in religious ceremonies.. Since in all major 3 religions, homosexuality is not allowed, they should not be "blessed" in marriage.. If they want some sort of document, then let there be one, but it should be named something different and not be called a "marriage certificate".. maybe a "union certificate" given by the justice of peace at a court house or something similar..