Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Marriage Equality

This from the Human Rights Campaign today...

TODAY'S TOP STORY: New pro-marriage ad campaign unveiled.Click here to view Equally Speaking:http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/ct/_1z0KYK1FXGN/

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's not good.

According to that broadcast; anyone who believes marriage should be one man & one woman is defined by them as an anti-gay bigot.

That is hateful, prejudicial, and offensive. I am against same-sex marriage for a number of reasons. And none of them have anything to do homophobia, bigotry, prejudice, or a lack of love.

On another note,
One problem with a same sex union being called a marriage is this; every married couple in the United States that has been married by law entered into a legal contract. That contract had legal
limitations and expectations. To change the limitations is to change the contracts of millions of americans without their permission.
Such a change goes against the religious and moral beliefs of many people. And people have a right to their religious and moral beliefs. Acceptance of same-sex marriage cannot be forced.

God is good.
-dave-

liberal pastor said...

Dave,

In 1967 the Supreme Court ruled that laws prohibiting interracial marriage were illegal. They changed the contract for everyone married in the sixteen states where these laws were on the books. Amazingly, everyone previously married was still married afterwards. Undoubtedly, many of them believed their marriage vows had been morally and legally besmirched. But the Supreme Court made the right decision.

Allowing gays to marry may offend you personally, but if it in any way effects how you feel about your spouse or how seriously you take your marriage, then... well what can I say. I assume your marriage vows said something about "'til death do us part" and if you took your vows seriously then whether gays marry in America or Pakistani parents arrange marriages for their 12 year-old children or some Mormon offshoots still practice polygamy, it really has no effect on your marriage.

My own view is that the state should offer legal civil recognition to any two adult couples who wish to have their relationship legally recognized, with all the legal protections currently offered to married couples. Marriage should be the province of faith communities and no faith community should be forced to perform marriage ceremonies they are uncomfortable with. But they should have no say in what is a legally recognized civil relationship.