I don't think the government should be in charge of handing out marriages to anyone. Actually, most people (that I've talked to personally) only take issue with the use of the word 'marriage' being applied to anyone but one man and one woman, which isn't really addressed here. In that case, if they want to decide who to hand out the word to, they should take it upon themselves to remove the institution from the hands of the government instead of deciding who gets the word and who doesn't.

All that said, I think consenting adults should be able to enter into any contract they want to without the government checking in on what goes on their bedroom. 

@Grtt@xanga - My thing is, the word we have for that partnership is "marriage" whether anyone likes it or not. Marriage isn't exclusively religious anymore. A word's a word, right? So just call it marriage. 

Really...who the hell cares if a man marries a man and a woman marries a woman?  We're all of the same human species.   I'd start to worry if a man wanted to marry his dog or a tree.

@thepsychoticraccoon@xanga - Because partnership is already part of the language too (you used it yourself). So is union, so is contract. These words already exist. I'm not advocating adding a word to the English language, lol, and there are plenty of others that would apply.

Also not advocating a union/partnership for gay people and a marriage for straight people. Everyone (insofar as the government is concerned) should have the same name attached to their little signed paper. After that, if you can find a willing priest to 'marry' you and your partner, have at it, if that's what you want.

I wasn't taught absolutely anything about God growing up, but I was taught you can't expect something for nothing, and as a gay man (who is for all intents and purposes 'married'), I would love to have my government recognise me and my husfriend (my own little term) as equals to all the other 'married' people. I'm perfectly willing to compromise over something so insignificant as a word if it will lead to progress.

@Grtt@xanga - I feel the need to clarify. I meant in my above comment that many people will still think of the legal practice as a marriage since the definition has evolved for so long to include both the religious and legal parts. Giving the legal practice a new word does make sense, I just don't think we should HAVE to. 

@Grtt@xanga - I completely agree. Every marriage should be a civil union in the government's eyes. The problem I have religious ceremonies combining with politics. That shouldn't be legal. Let the individual churches decide who they allow marriages to.

Furthermore, I've heard the argument that allowing people who are homosexual to get married would take away from the sanctity of marriage. Riiiiight. Because marriage today in America is so sacred. There are tons of heterosexual people out in the world who make a joke of marriage. Surely we don't want the gays to get married to ruin that. *insert eye roll here*

@love_and_blackberries@xanga - I wish religion and politics were more like oil and water, but that rascally religion keeps hanging in there!

The problem lies in that the government is giving benefits to a religious union when the government should be separate from the church.

Though even atheist couples get these benefits– well– as long as they're straight (oh the hypocrisy! it never dies.)

i think i've come up with a good compromise for this.  we'll give gays all the same rights as straights, except we'll just call them "butt buddies". 

op:  i think you misunderstand the conservative viewpoint.  they are fiscally hands-off, but with everything else, they're very much into telling you how to live your life.  liberals have the opposite viewpoint:  they want people to devise their own sets of morals, but believe the government should exercise more fiscal control.

@anonymous - We are all humans but there is differences between us, like between men and women. If it didn't matter then we would all be the same in every way! But we aren't! 

@lemons_to_lemonade@xanga - If the government just let people do whatever they wanted to do, this country would be in even more chaos then it already is. There is a government in place for a reason, just like children need parents to actually "parent" them.

@Amanda - You know, I'm a Christian, and I can't stand when Christians try to legislate Christianity. It is a myth that the United States of America was founded on Biblical standards - a myth perpetrated by American Christianity. The Treaty of Tripoli very clearly indicates that the United States of America is a secular state, as does the Constitution.