Is marriage something else the religious don't understand?

[hawiovi]

In all the furor over same-sex marriage, I continually see people raising religious objections to it and against homosexuality in general.

Marriage is a civil contract. It grants rights and benefits to the two people who enter into the contract. Religion has no bearing on this. Procreation has no bearing on this, either - there is no stipulation in the contract that children will be borne. If there were, the elderly and the infertile would have to be barred, too. Religion does not enter into this at all.

Since marriage is a civil contract, the only two options available under the rule of law are:

1. Stop unconstitutionally denying the right to enter into this contract on the basis of gender.

or

2. Eliminate the contract itself, along with all the rights and benefits of it. All of them.

This is a simple black-and-white question of law and the Constitution. Either all citizens have equal rights to enter into the contract, or the contract itself is unconstitutional and needs to go.

Why do the religious seem to have such a hard time with this concept?

[bret11]

*facepalm*

Yeah. You're the one who can't stop whining. I simply said I don't support gay marriage.

[siuaghan]

They need to consider getting back in school

[gobrwy]

"Why do the religious seem to have such a hard time with this concept?"
They don't . They deny what you pointed out by proclaiming their respective religion as superior to everything else and that it must be followed without question.
Was the word I was looking for 'tyranny' ?

eva longoria proves what I just said.

[darik]

Religious people are much more likely to care for the next generation than non-religious people.

Therefore we are more likely to support an institution that places the next generation at its very heart, than to support one whose purpose is the personal (economic, legal, etc.) satisfaction of the institution’s members.

Marriage is the kind of overflowing love that overflows into the lives of our children, whose very lives were the result of our loving union, love that is not just for each other.

Same-sex “marriage” is not marriage in that sense. Its focus is on the two selves. Translated, that means it’s self-focused. Religious people object to SSM mainly because it is selfish.

[thom]

Religious people are much more likely to care for the next generation than non-religious people.

Therefore we are more likely to support an institution that places the next generation at its very heart, than to support one whose purpose is the personal (economic, legal, etc.) satisfaction of the institution’s members.

Marriage is the kind of overflowing love that overflows into the lives of our children, whose very lives were the result of our loving union, love that is not just for each other.

Same-sex “marriage” is not marriage in that sense. Its focus is on the two selves. Translated, that means it’s self-focused. Religious people object to SSM mainly because it is selfish.

The difference is you consider marriage as a civil contract and those that follow
the dictates of the bible consider marriage as a moral contract instituted by God.
You go by the laws of man which sometime conflict with the laws of God.
Mans' laws do not nullify the laws of God. Just as the United States cannot negate
the laws of Iran, no matter how antiquated or harsh they may feel them to be.

Some of the laws of man are wishy-washy and can be changed at the whim or
popularity of people. But Gods' laws are consistent. He has been involved with
this world and the people in it since its' creation but man, the author of chaos and
confusion, can't let well enough alone. They want the laws to adjust to their sexual
appetites, when those laws that are already in place have been fine for centuries.
But no matter what man decides, in the end,God always wins.

[shen86]

Baby you're not the only one...
Oh oh oh yeah
Hey yeah

I see the things he does to you
All the pain that he puts you through
And I see what's really going on
Staying out at night while you're by the phone

Take it from me
It's a lesson to be learned
Even the good guys get burned
Take it from me
See I would give you love
The kind of love that you've only dreamed of
Baby you're not the only one
You don't have to be afraid to fall in love
And I know that you've hurt in the past
But if you want it, here's my heart
No strings attached

He doesn't give you the kind of attention
That a girl like you needs (that a girl like you needs)
Cause he always looks around
His eyes wander 'round
He doesn't see you like I see

Take it from me
It's a lesson to be learned
Even the good guys get burned
Take it from me
Baby I would give you love
The kind of love that you've only dreamed of yeah
Baby you're not the only one (baby you're not the only one)
You don't have to be afraid to fall in love (to fall in love)
And I know that you've hurt in the past (hurt in the past)
But if you want it, here's my heart (here's my heart)
No strings attached

Take it from me
It's a lesson to be learned
Even the good guys get burned
Take it from me
See I would give you love
The kind of love that you've only dreamed of
So if you want to take a chance with me (ah-ah-ah-ah-ah)

If you (baby) take a chance with me
I'll be everything you need (everything you need)
Because it's our destiny

(Mixing of chorus and "If you...take a chance with me")

Baby you're not the only one
You don't have to be afraid
To fall in love
And I know that you've hurt in the past
But if you want it,
Here's my heart
No strings attached

[egan]

On the contrary, our Creator established rules governing marriage long before governments began regulating the institution. The opening book of the Bible tells us: “A man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) The Hebrew word “wife,” according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, “connotes one who is a female human being.” Jesus confirmed that those yoked together in marriage should be “male and female.”—Matthew 19:4.

Thus, God intended marriage to be a permanent and an intimate bond between a man and a woman. Men and women are designed to complement each other so they may be capable of satisfying each other’s emotional, spiritual, and sexual needs and desires.

The well-known Biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah reveals God’s feelings about homosexuality. God declared: “The cry of complaint about Sodom and Gomorrah, yes, it is loud, and their sin, yes, it is very heavy.” (Genesis 18:20) The extent of their sinful depravity at that time was apparent when two guests visited the righteous man Lot. “The men of Sodom . . . surrounded the house, from boy to old man, all the people in one mob. And they kept calling out to Lot and saying to him: ‘Where are the men who came in to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have intercourse with them.’” (Genesis 19:4, 5) The Bible says: “The men of Sodom were bad and were gross sinners against Jehovah.”—Genesis 13:13.

The men became “violently inflamed in their lust toward one another, males with males.” (Romans 1:27) They had “gone out after flesh for unnatural use.” (Jude 7) In countries where homosexual rights campaigns are pervasive, some may object to using the word “unnatural” to describe homosexual behavior. However, is not God the final arbiter when it comes to nature? He commanded his ancient people: “You must not lie down with a male the same as you lie down with a woman. It is a detestable thing.”— Leviticus 18:22.

The Bible is clear: God does not approve of or condone homosexual practices. He also disapproves of people who “consent with those practicing them.” (Romans 1:32) And “marriage” cannot give homosexuality a cloak of respectability. God’s direction that “marriage be honorable among all” precludes homosexual unions, which he considers detestable.—Hebrews 13:4.

Still, with God’s help, anyone can learn to “abstain from fornication,” which includes homosexual acts, and “get possession of his own vessel in sanctification and honor.”(1 Thessalonians 4:3, 4) Admittedly, this is not always easy. Nathan#, who formerly pursued a homosexual life-style, said: “I thought I could never stop.” But he did change with help from “the spirit of our God.”(1 Corinthians 6:11) As Nathan discovered, no problem is too big for Jehovah, who can provide the strength and help needed to meet His standards and receive His blessings.—Psalm 46:1.

* Even when the laws of the land are in conflict with their Bible-trained conscience, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not engage in protests or any form of political campaigns in order to change such laws.

# Not his real name.