Do you think banning gay marriage is a violation of the freedom of religion?

Question

In the constitution, we have a freedom of religion. Marriage is a state recognition of religious union. Marriage came from religion. Not all religions believe that gay marriage is wrong. Its mostly Christians that are against gays. So why should the state make it illegal just because one religion is against it? That also seems like a violation of church and state....don't you think?

My best friend is gay and he is a catholic.....but he will never have the opportunity to marry the man he falls in love with. This is unfair.

Answer 1

No it should not be illegal because "one" religion thinks its wrong. and because of the way it is I will not be able to marry the woman I fell in love with nearly 6 years ago. Just because 1 religion thinks its wrong it is banned. just because some hetero couples are insecure with their own marriage and their own sexuality it is illegal. People like to hide behind their religion when faced with something different.

Answer 2

A.marriage is NOT a religious institution, it is goverened by state laws a church marriage that does not conform to the requirements of the state is invalid...

B. Marriage is denied to gays because it is a way to make sure they do not receive the tax benefits married couples do, the difference between filing as a married couple or 2 single individuals can be in the 1000s of dollars...

Answer 3

Well, you say "Marriage is a state recognition of religious union" - but it's not. As far as the State is concerned, marriage is a wholly secular affair. Your religion, or lack thereof, is your business. The State "recognizes" the marriage itself, not its religious trappings.

As for the fundamental question of whether gay marriage bans are "religious" in motivation - well, they're obviously not rational. All the arguments against gay marriage are either based on explicitly religious ideas, e.g. cherry-picked quotes from scripture, and therefore inadmissable for the reasons you've mentioned, or they're variations on the theme of "respect for tradition" and "family values," which are usually just euphemisms for religion. A century ago they could've made, and in fact DID make, the same argument against women's suffrage - and yet here we are in the 21st century, with women voting against gay marriage!

ALL progress is "untraditional." Otherwise it wouldn't be progress; and if respect for tradition was always our overriding concern, we'd all still be living in caves. But progress frightens the peasants, who are fundamentally conservative. They can't ultimately stop it, but they do manage to slow things down. Still, I have no doubt that we'll see the constitutional gay marriage bans stricken down within our lifetimes for the disgusting examples of baldfaced bigotry that they are.

Answer 4

I don't understand this either. We as Christians have divorces and couples living together (sin)but yet we say that marriage is God's Holy unity, when the churches don't hold it as Holy either. I know in the Bible it says no to gays but it also says no to abortion and the state has done that. It also says no to tattoes and alot of other things but I just know in the Bible that Jesus said the healthy does not need the doctor it is the sick. (not that I am saying that gays are sicker than any of the rest of us, we are not to love the things in this world but to love God and Jesus and follow the Lord with all our hearts, where do you suppose all the ones that oppose gay marriages heart is?) We are not to follow the rules of religion they are there for the basic clue as to what we follow in this world and not doing God's will. So I say that if marriage is something the gays want than why are we stopping this when if we are truely christians as long as we live our lives and teach our children the ways of the Lord than how is this affecting us in our religious ways. oh I know we as christians are afraid that our children will get confused and want to follow them? Please if we are doing what the Lord put forth in the Bible than we are letting our children know the likes and dislikes of what the Lord wants in a obedient follower.

Answer 5

Separation of church and state was created to protect The Church from being abused by the government, not so the government could alienate The Church from every aspect of life. America and the constitution was founded by The Church on Christian values. There are other countries that allow gay marriage. Why not try life there.

Answer 6

Marriage is an institution that began in the Bible, and is recognized by God, but the state is not required to recognize it.

The state has the right to recognize whatever criteria they agree on. For the propogation of the state, it deams that marriage is one man and one woman, a good formula for expanding the generations.

There is no separation of church and state in the constitution.
However, I am sure there are a lot of people who would like to write it into the constitution.

BTW: 85% of the U.S. claims to be Christian.

grace2u

Answer 7

Yes, it is a blatant violation of the freedom of religion.

Here's what you didn't know: That ain't stoppin' anyone.
Marriage is what you do at your own church. The government really can't stop two people from making a committment to each other infront of the diety of their choice.

They CAN stop you from being legally recognized which prohibits employer benefits and survivor rights.

Answer 8

Your logic does not stand up. Freedom of religion is the freedom to worship the God of your choice without interference from the state. Being gay is not a religion, it is a lifestyle. Marriage is not merely a religious ceremony. Although for people of religion, the marriage "before God" is important. Marriage itself is a civil institution as well. It is for all intents and purposes a contract between two individuals that has nothing to do with religion. Although this is sometimes called a civil union, as of this moment, it is still treated in the same way as a marriage under religious grounds because that is the way the law reads. The states that have come out against gay/lesbian marriage do so because they consider it to be a violation of the intent or the traditional defination of marriage. (A union between a man and a woman) This is a law based on tradition as well as on the religious beliefs held by our forefathers making It a moral question as well as it is a legal one. I doubt if this law is likely to change in the near future. However, it has been suggested that a purely legal union be allowed for gay/lesbian couples in order to provide the legal protection for property disbursement/ownership etc. and I do believe that this type of law will someday be put in place. However, from what I understand, gay/lesbian couples object to this kind of law because it does not acknowledge the "love" side of the relationship. As far as Christians being against gay marriage, you are correct. Our Bible is very specific about what is allowed as far as relationships are concerned and gay/lesbian relationships are expressly forbidden as are incest and sex with animals. Please don't get me wrong, I am not bashing gays. I am reasonably certain that for some reason (unknown to me) some people are born with this particular brand of sinful desire just as the heterosexual is born with desire to be sexually sinful (sex outside of marriage). But, the heterosexual is expected (by God) to abstain from sex outside of marriage because God says it is wrong. Most true Christians do not hate gays any more than they hate heterosexuals that have sex outside of marriage. What we do hate is the sin itself in both cases. A Christian hates all sin, whether it is sexual sin, killing, stealing, disrespect, jealousy (envy) etc. because those things when practiced are detrimental to our society. God knew what he was doing when he gave these commands. They are not simply of list of "don'ts". They are for our good. Gay marriage is not the issue really. No sin is greater than any other. Sorry, I digress. As to your original question...this is not an issue of church and state being seperated. It is an issue of our laws being based on moral guidance that were the beliefs of our forefathers and are still the beliefs of the majority of citizens today.

Answer 9

freedom of expression. thats where this falls under. not all gays are religious. Marriage is not a religious practice, it is an Egyptian tradition that christians stole, and made into a religious thing.

Answer 10

We should always respect gays as people and never treat them unkindly but as faithfull people we cannot accept their ways as moral. Man was created for woman and woman for man. I hope and pray that all homosexuals may live a life of chastity.


Here is what the Catechism says -
I2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.