Have people who are against gay marriage actually harmed marriage?

[dsc]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051028/ap_on_re_us/american_births

Evidently more and more women in their twenties are having babies without the benefit of marriage. Presumedly many of them are actually in committed relationships but just not married.

Why would this be?

Could it be that the politicians who have catered most strongly to the save the sanctity of marriage have helped create an economy in which nearly all adults have to work? Could it be that by arbitrarily denying marriage to one group of people they have encouraged businesses and localities to creat marriage light which is often open to heterosexuals as well? Marriage has lost some of its priviledged status and thus even people in longterm relationships often decide not to get married.

It is ironic that by trying to save marriage, these people may have actually helped bring about its end.

[sbj405]

1. As a woman in my twenties in a committed relationship . . .

My SO and I view marriage as religious event. We are not religious and have no need to celebrate this event. Our country has allowed marriage to become a secular event(think of it as a substitute for forming an LLC). Frankly, I'm not sure why our government is involved at all in marriage (issuing license, divorce court, legislation, etc.)More often than not I hear people getting married for a variety of reasons (insurance, immigration, other benefits - benefits that, in most cases are denied to any unmarried couple), rarely to celebrate the religious aspect. To some degree, I feel when hetero couples marry for such reasons (essentially to gain rights or benefits same sex couples can not), we all take a step back. If all those heterosexual couples united and fought for the rights that same sex couples seek, progress might be made. Those benefits would be made available to any configuration of couples in our society.

[FreedomAngel82]

4. Yes

I think marriage today with couples is just one of those things that's lost meaning. Why else is divorce so high in a lot of states? Look at Texas for example. They're the highest rated state with divorce. Whenever I marry that person I want to marry him because I want us to work together on taking care of our family and make that commitment to him. I agree that if marriage is going to be at all in the law it should be for all couples whether gay or straight because the law shouldn't be made for one group of people. Why am I more important to my government because I'm straight? I shouldn't be. Gay people still pay tax's and vote and participate in society. I've heard the argument about polygamy and I could care either way. It's not my life y'know?

[corbett]

2. The Radical Right Is A Factor, To Be Sure, But Society As A Whole Is, Too

Former VP Quayle is a factor. There are many factors. As a married straight man, my biggest gripe is that I never can get those on the religious right to give me a secular definition of how gay marriage harms them.

www.saveroe.com

[FreedomAngel82]

5. It doesn't harm anybody

They're trying to make this a religious battle but it isn't. It has to do with the law and being equal in the eyes of the law. I'm a Christian and I'm for gay rights because it doesn't have anything to do with me. Why should I be more important to my government because I'm straight and religious? I shouldn't be. We don't live in a theocracy. Just because there is a law doesn't mean I have to follow it. In the Constiution it states that people can own guns. I don't own a gun because it comes with a risk of killing someone. Same reason why I could never join the military in any way. It comes with the risk of killing someone and taking another life. The "religious right" forgets that people have freewill and life is about choices and consequences. They can go out and preach all they want but people still have the freewill to reject their message(s). James Madison and Barry Goldwater stated it best in my opinion.

James Madison- "Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together."

Barry Goldwater- "You can't change how society lives or thinks through the law."

[corbett]

7. Loved The Madison Quote! Thanks! n/t

[No Exit]

3. I can't say they have, but they will harm it irreparably

if they ever succeed in passing their cockamamie "marriage amendment" to the U.S. Constitution.

It would open a veritable Pandora's box of federal control in areas where there has NEVER been such control before. Believe me, it would truly be a nightmare.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

6. Not necessarily ruined all marriage per se....

However, I think right wingers don't want to lose a certain type of marital relationship: that of the man controlling the woman. Gay rights somehow threaten these people's patriarchal control of women. Gay rights make waves that ruin their sick little system.

Does that make any sense at all?

[Deja Q]

8. People like to hear what they want and ditch the rest.

We're all guilty to some extent, but the mainstream sheeple unwitting do the most to hang themselves without even realizing it.

So much the better, I suppose.