Why are so many people openly against gay marriage?

Question

-It can't be because it affects you in any way because obviously if gay people can get get married your life stays THE EXACT SAME.
-It can't be becuase you believe in "the sanctity of marriage" because more than half of all marriages end in divorce
-And if your only justification is that you feel it is against God's will then the government shouldn't be voting on it because we have seperation of church and state

...So why all the bigotry? Can you tell me ONE thing in your life that would be changed for the worse if gays could marry?

Answer 1

Why are gay people so far marriage? Marriage sanctioned by the State is just that, state marriage. It is not some spiritual bond between two people, gay people can already do that. It deosn't come down to how it affect me, but how politicians see it affecting society. State sanctioned marriage was created for a few reasons, of which include census issues, promoting population continuation/growth through procreation, and establishing a family unit they felt was best for raising children (meaning that they believed it would be beneficial if a child was raised with a mother and a father - receiving the benefits of each sexes characters, which are obviously and indiputably different). Now, according to the law the states legislate regarding marriage; marriage is not a fundatmental right found in the constitution. Because marriage is not a fundamental right, and does not deserve hightened scrutiny by the courts, the states can come up with marriage laws they believe are rationally related to the desired outcome. Additionally, they do not need to have any evidence to support their theories. Because a majority of those in most jurisdictions believe a child would be better off in a stable home with both a father and a mother, and because they think it will improve society (won't talk about the procreation one), then they can do it. It is not discriminatory because the purpose of the law is not to discriminate or favor one person over another (all men and women alike have the right to marry). I myself am actually not against gay marriage, but I understand the law and think the people through their lawmakers should make the law, not the courts and judges. There will likely be a day where the laws change, but I would hope we respect the foundation of our government and country and do it the right way.

As to your argument about the sanctity of marriage...it doesn't work. Just because people fail to honor their marriage and don't act in accordance with their beliefs does not mean it isn't sacred. That would be like saying Christianity is false because everyone sins.

As to God...if you believe in God, and you believe in the Bible, then I think it would be pretty difficult to be for gay marriage. From the beginning of the Bible it is about procreation. Procreation is the most godlike activity mankind can engage in because they are creating life.

I don't think one is necessarily a bigot if they feel marriage should remain between man and woman. Especially if they are for such things as civil unions. I may agree with you that there are many that see gays becoming mainstream is destroying society. I won't get into this much more, but you could say it would completely change the face of the family unit as we know it, and the family unit has been the center of society since the foundation of the world (religious or not). Who knows what will happen to society if we change the foundation upon which it lies.

Answer 2

I'm an atheist and straight - and I'm against it.

- My married life won't change if gay people got married, but to take something that has been an institution for as long as there has been society and say "me too" in a way that is apart from the way we've always done it does reduce the meaning of it.

- I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I understand that more than half of all marriages end in divorce, but since I'm not, my opinion is still valid. If I were ever divorced, I would also lose my ability to have an opinion on that subject.

- We don't have a separation of church and state in the Constitution. That was the opinion of a Supreme Court justice and he said that there should be, but no sect of any religion endorses gay marriage as a whole. There are some that perform it, but not with the endorsement of the church.

I don't hate gay people, I have known a lot of them over the years and there are good ones and bad ones, just the same as with straight people. You can still have civil unions and hey, buy each other rings if you like, but marriage is something that most of us believe is between one man and one woman.

When do we get to the point that a man could marry two women? Three women? Their dogs? Their toasters? What I don't understand is that supporters of this can't take the position to the extreme and see what happens to it.

Why do gay people want to get married? You could do other things to show that you love whomever it is you love, so why this? Why can't you understand why straight people wouldn't accept it?

A local radio host said that the only people that want gay marriage to happen are gay people and divorce attorneys.

Answer 3

Gotta chime in on the Seperation Clause. Technically, as Christians are fond of pointing out, the seperation of church and state outlined in the First Amendment doesn't say that the government needs to be secularized, it just says that the state can't endorse one religion over another. So lets go with this idea. As long as every single religion agreed that marriage must be between a man and a woman, then you can't challenge DOMA on Constitutional grounds, right?

Only saying that every single religion agrees on this is simply false. The Unitarian Universalist Association has been endorsing gay marriages for 20 years - this is the church of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin. Same with the United Church of Christ - what used to be called Puritans, literally the first church in this country. Is someone arguing that the foundations of the Protestant Establishment in America don't count as "real" religions? Because otherwise, it looks to me like the Defense of Marriage Act is endorsing the tenets of certain Christian churches over the tenets of other Christian churches. This is EXACTLY what is forbidden by the Seperation clause, even if you interpret Freedom of Religion as only applying to Christians.

Besides, didn't Jesus free us from all the laws of the Old Testament? Isn't that why we get to eat pork now? Looks to me like banning gay marriage is endorsing Judaism over Christianity.

Answer 4

I believe that the main reason why there are a lot of people against Gay marriage is because its a at least 2000 year old tradition that only one man and one women has been joined in marriage. Many fear the destruction of the family unit if it is allowed. I personally believe that Gays should receive a blessing on their union if they should want it and have at least the same rights as Heterosexual couples. The church I belong too supports civil marriages and a blessing from the Clergy.

Answer 5

So far, there is absolutely no proof that this man (Rev. Haggard) is gay. According to EVERY news story I've read, he stepped aside in order to allow the church to look into the matter, but continues to deny the affair. I am incredibly suspicious of the fact that this "revelation" came out precisely in line with the upcoming elections. Haggard has been campaigning against gay marriage. What better way to undermine his position than to make him the center of a manufactured gay affair scandal? I don't know if the man is gay or not. Frankly, it doesn't matter. This is an extremely sleazy political trick on the part of people who dislike him. The timing is no coincidence.

Answer 6

I'm with you on this one.

Personally, I think it stems from a fear of homosexuality (e.g., a fear that a greater acceptance of homosexuality would lead to more children "becoming" gay or lesbian), a literal interpretation of the Bible, and a fear that the meaning of social institutions such as marriage would somehow be changed in a detrimental way if gays/lesbians were allowed to marry.

Do I agree with any of that? No. I think it makes no more sense to say that gays shouldn't marry than it did to deny marriage rights to various other minorities over the years.

But the good news here is that attitudes are changing. For all their anger, the virulently anti-gay movement must know that young people are becoming more and more accepting of homosexuality. It is only a matter of time, IMHO, before gay marriage is a fact of life in our country -- just as has happened in Europe, etc.

Answer 7

Hello! - Well some people are against it because they don't know gay people in a relationship, and naturally they are afraid of what they don't know. Most of the problems of homophobia and those who are against homosexuality stay that way because they never have had the guts, the will, or the chance to really get to know a gay person or couple.

Answer 8

It's all because of unquestioned conditioning. Our culture has had millenia of negative conditioning which had its roots with the Jewish tribes divinely mandating procreative sex and banning other practices in order to both increase their numbers and to define their group's specialness. Once this was in Leviticus, the Jewish culture fostered this and negative perspectives of sexuality became the foundation of the culture (and it's why we see it in Paul's letters and other areas of the NT). This then took on a life of its own, with christianity adopting the same concepts. We even get an often-used religious metaphor of the virgin birth (which was used to symbolize the enlightenment of jesus, the buddha, etc.) misused and misinterpreted to literally refer to mary's sexual activity with respect to Jesus' birth. Keep this going for 2000 years, with the puritans and other groups taking it to new heights, and we're left with a very very warped and unhealthy perspective of sexuality. Unfortunately, this perspective is never questioned and is defended by those who are victims of it. Given that sexuality as a whole has been warped, we get even more specific areas such as same-sex relationships that are treated with even more derision -- especially because it now gives those a target for projecting their own frustrations and unanalyzed issues with sex. Horrible stuff.

Answer 9

I can't think of anything good that would come out of getting rid of the gay people of the world, so I say let them be. Live and let live. I have nothing against them. I like to stay out of peoples' business.

Answer 10

What 2 consenting adults do and with whom is not the business of anyone else.

I see the most ignorant of the ignorant compare gay marriage to bestiality. That just infuriates me.

Bottom line, No one should ever be allowed to force their idiotic religious dogma on the citizens of this country by using our laws. I will fight that as long as I am breathing.