Civil is not religious and religious is not civil. Let's end civil marriage all together and have civil unions all around.
All these people want are:
- inheritance rights
- rights to visit their partner in the hospital
- benefits
Why should they be denied these things? I don't think gay's are morally wrong. You do. Well, there's plenty of things that I think are wrong but are legal (adultery for one). If you believe gay marriage is wrong and should be discouraged by the law then so much more so with regard to adultery (far more common that practicing gays). But the conservatives won't do that. Too close to home.
Here are some thoughts on this issue from CityBeat's John Fox:
If Republicans or any lawmakers were truly serious about the institution of marriage, they'd take one or all of these actions: make divorce illegal across the country, make adultery a crime, ideally a felony, and require a test of some sort in order for people to obtain a marriage license.
If you knew going into a marriage that you'd have to study how to be a proper spouse in order to pass a licensing test (like you do to get a driver's license), that you'd never be able to get divorced and that you'd go to prison if you cheated on your spouse, well, the institution of marriage would have some pretty dedicated members. It'd be as solid as the Marine Corps.
I think this sums up my feelings on the whole issue about Katrina/Nat Disasters and God's wrath:
From Dan Savage:
Homos are marrying in California as of this week (congrats to all), and should a tornado—or an earthquake or a meteor or the Incredible Hulk—flatten, say, San Francisco's City Hall during a big gay wedding, respected leaders of the religious right will rush to cable broadcast studios to insist that the tornado/earthquake/meteor/Hulk was God's divine judgment, His righteous wrath, the Baby Jesus's latest temper tantrum, wocka wocka wocka.
"I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing," said the Rev. John Hagee, John McCain's ex-BFF, when asked about Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans just before a "massive homosexual rally," aka an annual street party called "Southern Decadence," was supposed to take place in the French Quarter. "I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. And I believe that Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."
And God got his way: By drowning little old ladies in attics in the Ninth Ward, God prevented that massive gay rally—for one year.
So how does a douchebag like Hagee explain away the tragedy in Iowa last week? A tornado struck a Boy Scout camp, killing four and injuring scores more, and the Scouts are famously antigay and antiatheist. Well, we need only to consult the same interview with Rev. Hagee to learn the answer: While all natural phenomena represent God's "permissible will," says Hagee, "it is wrong to say that every natural disaster is the result of sin... No man on Earth knows the mind of God."
See how that works? Not every natural disaster is the result of sin, you see, because sometimes natural disasters happen to us, not just to them, and when they happen to us, well, the Lord sure moves in mysterious ways, and no man on Earth knows the mind of God. But let a natural disaster strike San Francisco this week, next week, or ever again, and Rev. Hagee will be able to read the mind of God like it was a large-print edition of Highlights for Children.
