Scott Stroz wrote: > I think this is where a lot of people have issues/confusion. When I say I > am for 'gay marriage' some people (in my wife's family no less) assume I > mean that churches should be forced to marry gay couples. Yet, some > 'religious' people I know seem to agree that gay couples should have the > same rights as hetero couples when it comes to owning property together, > health benefits, etc > > I have been saying for a long time (but not nearly as eloquently as some on > this list) that the opposition seems to stem from the use of the word > 'marrige'. Marriage is used to describe the religious ceremony AND a civil > contract. I believe it was Judah had suggested (that I read on the list) > that the government should get out of the marriage business and change all > the forms/license to be for 'civil unions'.
I would agree that some of the opponents of gay marriage are just against the term "marriage" and separating the government aspect from the religious aspect with different words would probably satisfy many of these. But I feel that the spectrum of opponents covers a wide range and includes many who are just out and out against homosexuality and would rather they just plain did not exist. These types will fight anything that they perceive as condoning this 'ungodly' lifestyle. I think gay rights proponents would be better served by fighting for the separation of the civic aspect of a 'marriage contract,' even by renaming this aspect, and the religious aspect of a 'marriage ceremony'. This should more clearly divide the opponents into those who will accept homosexual rights from those who don't. And this latter group would be easier to argue against with the average Joe and Jane Public. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:278883 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
