Ehwmatt wrote:Saint John wrote:bluejeangirl76 wrote:I just think if people are going to make an argument against it, then I need to hear something that makes more sense than "god said so" or "well... because they're gay, that's why..."
I'll take a crack at it. I think, to the overwhelming majority of people, "marriage" is viewed as the union of a man and a woman, and the very foundation of procreation and the family. Because of that, to most of us, it's important to keep that particular term clearly defined as being a commitment solely between a (born) man and a (born) woman. Furthermore, I think it's also important to clearly define the lifestyle of 2 people whose practices make it impossible to form a biological family, as something different. In other words, the relationship is cheapened because the general biological design of procreation is being snubbed, and that's why I think you see so many opponents of gay adoption. It all comes back to the purpose "family" and procreation, and why many people want to reserve the specific term "marriage" as such.
Lastly, rights are rights and should probably be designated for whomever we choose to make our "mate." I don't think most would have a problem recognizing a civil union and it would, seemingly, be a happy compromise for both sides. It's not *legally* being called "marriage" but you're afforded the same rights as those that are married. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Dan, I agree with everything you say, but the extremists on the other side won't. The crux of the problem is this: For over 3 decades, the far left has made it their ignoble crusade to go about altering every "traditional" moral value or viewpoint in this country. They want to change the fundamental makeup of the country. It's not enough for them to concede that they are in the minority and just want "equal" rights. No, it's about more than that. They want to become the majority. They want to eradicate the beliefs of those who hold traditional views of things such as marriage. Hence why I believe Bobby already said that it wouldn't be enough to call it a civil union and give them all the rights attendant to traditional marriage. That's just not enough. They want to shock the consciences of those who feel differently from them and they want to create cognitive dissonance to the degree that traditional views are forced to assimilate their views into the overall line of thinking.
There's already a civil war in this country, it just happens to be mostly non-violent.
BINGO.