[Link: radio.foxnews.com]

[Link: examiner.com]

[Link: nytimes.com]

My Religous beliefs state that marriage should occur between two people that are committed to one another and love each other. When will my freedom of religion kick in so that we (my believers) will stop being oppressed.


In a country founded on freedom of religion, whether you think it's okay or not, marriage equality for all in terms of government and legal contracts shouldn't even be a debate IMO.

nobody is asking your church or religion to recognize or accept a gay couples union. But for all contractual and legal purposes, nothing to do with religion, the state should recognize these as legal contractual unions.

Doesnt the constitution also say Seperstion of Church and State. Gay people marrying under law......not religion, give me one reason why they shouldn't be aloud?

The Consititution DOES NOT say separation of church and state. It says that Congress shall make no LAW concerning religion, which actually states, by extension, that it's unconstitutional to forbid anything religious. That idea has been twisted into unrecognizability.

I'll bet that almost everyone who is in favor of gay marriage also believes in evolution and not the account in the Bible. I believe in evolution a bit; there's evidence, too, that it is not the sole means of species arising.

And to those who believe firmly in evolution, I offer this, with no emotion, no hatred, no religious bias: if you believe in evolution, you will recognize that gay marriage, in fact gay people, as individuals, do nothing to contribute to the survival of the species. It is therefore evolutionally quite logical to conclude that laws and attitudes should favor heterosexuals instead of homosexuals.

Please focus your firestorm about this comment on how, according to your view of evolution, homosexuals contribute to the survival of the species.

I think our species is doing just fine. Homosexuals have been around just as long as heterosexuals, and we've still managed to thrive.

There are plenty of other examples where people disagree with your religious views. Some don't believe Jesus was the messiah, some believe john smith found tablets in America, some believe in multiple gods, some don't believe in eating pork.

yet we live side by side, agreeing to disagree.

Not allowing gays to marry won't magically make gay people straight. So suggesting that passing a law to give them equal rights as everyone else could damage evolution or the future of our species doesn't make sense. 

Expecting Ernie to make sense doesn't make sense.

Part of what makes evolution tick is based on mutations in the genetic code to see what succeeds or fails. Homosexuality may be part of that mutation trait, but it does not get selected out. At least Ernie didn't claim that it's a choice and not how you are born.

BTW, the Mormons believe you can whitewash a gay person's brain and condition them to be straight. They have programs in their parish's for that very exercise.

The Mormons were behind the Proposition 8 thing a few years ago in Cali. They bankrolled the full court press against gay marriage, starting appx 90 days before the vote. TV, Radio, Billboard, Magazine, Newspaper adds, etc. That's one example of free speech, even when it oppresses a sect of society. The amount of money they spent against it is staggering.

I don't get the "it's not natural" rhetoric. I'm surprised that there isn't more homosexuality in humans. I have two female dogs that spend their days fighting to be the top in an elicit k9 love sandwich. These two aren't special. Every dog i have ever met, male or female...tries to mount and hump every dog it comes in contact with.

I think it's as natural as being attracted to blondes or drawn to legs vs breasts. Humans require more effort to get their switch flipped whereas dogs are turned on by anything with a heart beat.

I find it hilarious that Mormons are trying to fix brains. The religion that started with a man talking into his hat. Very queer behavior.

Actually, it started with a teen-aged guy who was so sick he was unconscious for over ten days and when he came to, he said he had "visions" about how things are. THAT'S CALLED HALLUCINATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

People are by and large civilized and able to control the urge to hump everything walking by. This is the difference between how animals act and how people act.
The old dogs are gay so people should be argument makes me cringe whenever I hear it.

I looked up the definition of marriage, expecting a latin meaning for the word expressing bondage of a woman to a man, turns out the word marriage was first used in the 1290's, and isn't even in the bible. People used to be able to swear their love and that bonded them together. Now we have courts and rules and taxes.
I honestly changed my opinion about all of this an hour ago.
I had an ex girlfriend over awhile ago and she brought her wife, I asked that they not express their marriage in front of my children, my son overheard me say this and said "Dad, what is the big deal?"
So, I ask- What is the big deal? If you know me, you know that I can be bigoted, narrow minded, cynical, and mean. I can also be thoughtful, evocative, swayed when facts are introduced, and even scared of new ideas.
I would say to any of you to try and imagine the other persons argument.

My fiancé and I are to be married next summer. We will have her justice of the peace uncle marry us. I wouldn't want to be denied that and don't want anyone else to be denied that.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised how easy it is to brainwash people these days, what with mass media and all.

Perhaps the pendulum is destined to forever swing to and fro.

Ernie, your comment that, "...gay people, as individuals, do nothing to contribute to the survival of the species.", just smacks of bigotry.

I have a gay friend that is a cancer researcher. He's made several revolutionary discoveries that have lead to highly effective cancer treatments. If you were receiving treatment based on one of his drugs, would you still be saying he did not, "...contribute to the survival of the species."? Just because he doesn't choose to knock up a woman, does not make him less important to society. Hell, we have plenty of inbred idiots in this world popping kids out like pop tarts for the welfare checks, and you're going to say gay people are less important to society? This is but one example of a gay person, making our world a better place, I'm sure there are plenty of others.

Apparently the constitution and the whole, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." passage is stuff that can be given or taken as we see fit. How is it not discrimination based upon gender and/or religion to allow a man and a woman to be given rights to make legal decisions for each other, and some tax advantages, while denying those rights to two individuals of the same sex, willing to live by the same laws? How do you write that into law that marriages of those of different gender are allowed, while same gender marriages are not, without basing the law upon gender, or religious grounds, which are clearly not allowed?

Many people fail to realize that humans are animals, just with a higher intellect than most.

"Give a monkey a brain, and he'll swear he's the center of the universe." -Fishbone

You beat me to this!

-

Well, David, this may shock you but I'm in an argumentative mood. Evolution is about passing one's genes on to future generations. If you are engaging in homosexual sex you are separate and apart from evolution as your genetic material cannot possibly be passed on, unless you are also in a hetro-sexual relationship. There is mounting evidence that sexual preference is a genetic predisposition. Nonetheless, homosexuality cannot possibly have any evolutionary advantages as there can be no advantage to a evolutionary strategy for genes are not passed on to future generations of humankind.