I suppose my greatest disappointment is that the Fat Boys only made the one movie.

[twicketface]

As you probably know, the Senate is debating the merits of an amendment to ban gay marriage. I find this to be utterly ridiculous and here's why.

First of all, sexual orientation is not a choice. I didn't choose to be heterosexual any more than a gay person chooses to be homosexual. It may be a lifestyle that you disagree with, but making it illegal won't stop it. All people deserve equality. Plain and simple. Making gay marriage illegal won't mean that there won't be gay people anymore. They'll still fall in love, date, live together, raise children and so forth. An amendment to prevent rights to certain groups of people is a dangerous precedent to set.

Look, I don't drink. But it's not my goal to prevent everyone from drinking just because I don't. Prohibition didn't work at stopping people from consuming alcohol and banning gay marriage won't stop gay people from being together. If you don't like it, don't do it.

Those who point to the Bible and say that it's wrong are justified in doing so, if that's what they believe. But all that should mean is that THEIR church of THEIR denomination doesn't perform gay marriages. The church I go to believes in and performs gay marriages, which is one of the reasons we attend services there. As we (theoretically) live in a country that has a separation between church and state, the government shouldn't be using religious reasons to deny gays (or bisexuals or transgendered for that matter) the right to marry. Marriage licenses are issued by the state, not the church.

Those who think that it will negatively impact the sanctity of marriage need to realize that marriage has very little sanctity left, due to how ridiculously easy it is to get married and get divorced. If you want to increase the chances of successful marriage, get involved with pre-marital counseling in your area. My parents did this for four years, counseling couples before they would get married to make sure they knew what they were getting into and to think about the different challenges it will present. Marie and I went through it as well and we both found it to be beneficial. Marriage is not "dating+", it's a commitment to another person, through thick and thin, forever. FOREVER. And there's nothing to say that two people of the same sex can't have that level of commitment to each other - they've never even been given the chance.

Besides, I find the idea of a man and a ferret getting married to be adorable.

Comments

Re: Agree to disagree...

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

First off, the institution of marriage is a Christian principle/concept, stemming from the Bible.

I've seen no evidence that marriage originated with Christianity - do you have a source for this? My understanding is that lots of people got married before Biblical times.

I believe that Satan is very good at dangling various temptations in front of all people, and the people with less moral upbringing and people that are more susceptible to attacks from Satan are more likely to succumb to the idea that the things they feel might be right for them.

So people who are 'morally inferior' are the ones who sin? Later on, you claim that all sin is equal (The Bible says that sin is all the same to God - there's no hierarchy of "not-so-bad, kinda bad, and REALLY BAD" sin to God. It's all sin, and equal.). If that's the case, since everyone sins, does it really matter? I don't think you can avoid sin, no matter how hard you try or how strong your convictions are. It's unavoidable. It can be minimized, but not eradicated.

God is not going to create someone with sin in them and then condemn them for it.
Isn't that what original sin is? Aren't we all created with sin in them until we are baptized?

God never changes. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God - therefor, His Word never changes, either.

I'm by no means a bible scholar, but aren't there lots of things in the bible that were once accepted as God's Word that have since been changed? Slavery (Exodus 21:7 and Lev. 25:44), not wearing garments that are made of two different materials (Lev. 19:19), even cutting your hair (Lev. 19:27) are all mentioned in the Bible, but we don't follow those 'rules' anymore.

It's all sin, and equal.

If you're essentially saying that all sin is the same, then again, what does it matter? Picture two people - one who lives a gay lifestyle and one who steals from his employer. In the end, if they're treated the same, so what? Aren't we better off as a society if people engage in non-harmful sins (the gay lifestyle) as opposed to other, more detrimental sins?

I am just trying to understand where you are coming from and I really appreciate you commenting - it's not always easy to disagree with someone and hope this has been more pleasant than your experiences in debate!