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scooper
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Subject: Defense of Marriage
I bristle when I hear "Defense of Marriage" used as a euphemism for "Denial of Marriage between Homosexual People." Try as I might, I just don't see how two people of the same gender getting married diminishes my 27+ year heterosexual marriage in any way. And to this day, no "Defense of Marriage" advocate has been able to explain it to me.
In fact, I see the desire of homosexuals to marry as affirming the institution of marriage. I think of Gay Marriage as the "100% Solution," because it would make marriage available to almost everyone who wants to participate in it. Now there are those who point out (correctly) that various polygamist groups are watching the Gay Marriage debate, seeking an opening for their style of marriage. To them I respond that we can count as far as two. Our culture, including its recent empowerment of women, depends and has depended on marriage being a binary union. We can stop at two.
But the polygamy argument is besides the point. We can take that up when it is raised in earnest. Returning to the main question here, can anyone explain to me just how it is that Gay Marriage diminishes Straight Marriage. (And I, for one am comfortable calling it something else, like Civil Union, when the ceremony is performed outside a religious institution, but then all marriages performed outside religious institutions are really Civil Unions, are they not?) So, names aside, show me the mechanism by which Gay Marriage diminishes the institution of Straight Marriage.
Other than by stimulating its opponents to use a euphemism, which in my view, is a lie.
In fact, I see the desire of homosexuals to marry as affirming the institution of marriage. I think of Gay Marriage as the "100% Solution," because it would make marriage available to almost everyone who wants to participate in it. Now there are those who point out (correctly) that various polygamist groups are watching the Gay Marriage debate, seeking an opening for their style of marriage. To them I respond that we can count as far as two. Our culture, including its recent empowerment of women, depends and has depended on marriage being a binary union. We can stop at two.
But the polygamy argument is besides the point. We can take that up when it is raised in earnest. Returning to the main question here, can anyone explain to me just how it is that Gay Marriage diminishes Straight Marriage. (And I, for one am comfortable calling it something else, like Civil Union, when the ceremony is performed outside a religious institution, but then all marriages performed outside religious institutions are really Civil Unions, are they not?) So, names aside, show me the mechanism by which Gay Marriage diminishes the institution of Straight Marriage.
Other than by stimulating its opponents to use a euphemism, which in my view, is a lie.
Because there is more to Religion than pleasing your Imaginary Friend.
