Sexual Orientation vs. Race

[Final-Fan]

mrstickball said:
I think the problem is that the gays want acceptance by the marriage community, and little more.

Marriage is a union between 2 people, that was setup, and recommended by various religious institutions. Allowing gay marriage abridges those religious rights, since 99% of all established, formal, religions reject homosexuality as a proper context of marriage.

Give them civil unions, give them access to insurance and hospitals. Do not allow them to tread on churches that are against homosexuality...The issue is that we've blurred the lines between what marriage is (a union between a man and a woman, ordained by God) and a civil union (co-habitation with legal rights).

I don't think you can name 99 churches (i.e. denominations or religions) that disapprove of gay marriage for every one I can name that doesn't disaprove.  In fact, I challenge you to try. 

I'll go first:  United Church of Christ. 

And actually, marriage has been a political/economic/generally social arrangement at least as much as it has been a religious one. 

And I question how allowing gay marriages would "tread on" churches that disapprove.  How can gay marriage possibly abridge their rights?  Do you think that those churches will be forced to recognize said marriages?  If so, I agree that that's wrong, but I deny that that is what is being proposed. 

Banning gay marriage because some religions don't like it is like Muslim countries banning alcohol and pork even among Christians because it's against the Muslim religion.  Are we a theocracy now? 

If your problem is that you think that marriage is a term with inherently religious implications to the point that the state shouldn't even be "marrying" people in the first place, and would rather we strip that nomenclature from heterosexual unions and give them and gay unions equal standing in the law, I can respect that and would vote for it (because although I disagree with the first part it would be a solution nonetheless).  Is this the case?  (I think I might have already said something like this to you and if you've already answered in that earlier discussion I apologize for the repetition.)