Marriage equality
I was reading an editorial on Huffington, ("Scalia and Alito: Have You No Sense of Decency, Sirs?', http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/scalia-and-alito-have-you_b_7203684.html ), talking about Scamia and Alito bringing up the old, tired, stupid argument about legalizing marriage equality for gays can lead to polygamy, incest, marrying your dog, etc.
Why is the argument not about the fact that marriage is NOT a religious sacrament, it is fundamentally (as far as the state is concerned) a civil contract. There are specific legal benefits and obligations that come with marriage. Just as you have to get a business license to run a business, you have to get a 'marriage license' to get married. The license has to be witnessed by a person who is legally able to do so. This person can be an ordained minister, a Justice of the Peace, a judge, or any other person recognized by the state as being allowed to witness. As a matter of fact, in California anyone can get a one-day permit to officiate at a marriage - so if you want your best buddy to do the ceremony, he can. The ceremony can be secular or religious. It can be a full-blown multi-million dollar extravaganza, or a quickie drive-through in Las Vegas. As far as the state is concerned, marriage is nothing more than a specific type of legal partnership. As I have said in the past, you can get married without a minister/priest/rabbi/imman, but try getting divorced without a judge.
Now, given the above, what is the state's interest in controlling who enters into this specific type of legal partnership? It seems to me that is the only valid question that any court has to examine. If the state (individual or collective) does not have a compelling interest (other than their so-called 'Christian beliefs') in preventing gays from getting married, then there is really no other argument to be made. Fifty years ago there were miscegenation laws on the books. Scotus finally said, nope, there is no compelling interest in preventing white folk and black folk from getting married. Seems to me the arguments against marriage equality are nothing more than a re-hash of the arguments for keeping the miscegenation laws. I think I heard that allowing blacks and whites to marry each other would lead to polygamy, incest, marrying your dog back then too.