[Cerek]

Originally posted by Djinn Raffo: Maybe I should have said Family Values and not Moral Values. At any rate what I was aiming at was the fact that those against gay marriage who cite the sanctity of marriage as their defense are fighting the wrong fight. Divorce rates are a greater threat to the tradition of marriage than gays being married and to solve it I propose a Constitutional Amendment banning divorce. Of course this relies on the fact that those who oppose gay marriage really do oppose it based on their belief in Family values and not something else, such as prejudice, because if they really do hold Family values in such a high regard surely they would support an Amendment banning divorce.

I have no problem admitting I oppose gay marriages based on my religious beliefs - or religious prejudice, if you prefer.

I also agree that we do not need a Constitutional Amendment to preserve the sanctity of the definition of the term "marriage". I would have no problems allowing gays to enter civil unions that would grant them the same rights granted to spouses in a heterosexual marriage.

And - finally - I agree that the whole argument over the term "marriage" is rather silly to begin with and that BOTH sides are equally guilty. Once all is said and done, the definition or quality of MY marriage won't be reduced in any way by a gay couple being able to say they are married also. By the same token, if equal rights are truly ALL that the gays are interested in, then the term "civil union" should be perfectly acceptable - so long as it grants the same rights and privileges as a "marriage" does.

As Timber has correctly pointed out, this is a TO-MAY-TO / TO-MAH-TO issue and it is rather silly that BOTH sides put SO MUCH importance on the term "marriage" - but that is they way it is and the term IS obviously that important to both sides. I am guilty of this myself. While I have no problem with gays having "civil unions", I admit that part of me prefers that the term "marriage" be reserved to mean "one woman and one man". But the world won't end, the church won't crumble and my marriage will be just as sanctified as it ever was if the definition of the term is expanded.

[ 11-09-2004, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: Cerek ]