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                    WileyJohn - you may be surpirsed to hear that you echo my sentiments
                
                Some issues drain an inordinate amount of our energy and when they become the law of the land they have reached the dead horse stage. All I can say to anyone still beating the drums of objection at that stage is to get over it.
                
                    posted by
                    gomedome
                     on March 10, 2012 at 9:12 PM
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                    Gomedome
                
                Welcome back. In the past few years I came to the conclusion that I don't have to have an opinion on everything and anything.I do not however have to object to anything that doesn't affect me as long as it passes the law of the land........
                
                    posted by
                    WileyJohn
                     on March 10, 2012 at 1:59 PM
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                    Nautikos - most of these types of issues have been bludgeoned to death
                
                To the extent that I find myself bored with them as well, sometimes to the point of having trouble thinking of topics for new posts (especially in this category). During this stint on Blogit I am going to attempt to overcome my habit of being a notorious phantom reader and comment more.
                
                    posted by
                    gomedome
                     on March 9, 2012 at 7:36 AM
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                    gome
                
                I'm pretty well a one-issue man these days, LOL, as you'll see when you drop in to 'Views', and the same-sex marriage debate is one that has me yawning, along with many others...
                
                    posted by
                    Nautikos
                     on March 8, 2012 at 10:20 PM
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                    TAPS - my perspective on this issue evolved over time as well
                
                As a heterosexual I will never fully comprehend same sex attraction. Just like everyone else born into our societies I had all of the usual prejudices and misinformation concerning gays instilled in me while growing up. It wasn't until I began looking at the facts that I realized how utterly nonsensical some of the scare mongering and baseless objections really are. Gays cannot be "cured", no one chooses their sexual orientation and homosexuality is not contagious or prone to growth within a society due to permissiveness or acceptance. These are the facts, when these realizations are added to the experiences of the jurisdictions where same sex marriage is allowed, in particular that it has no affect whatsoever on the practices and norms of the rest of society; it becomes clear that attempting to deny this small segment of society this avenue to their own personal pursuit of happiness is inherently unjust.
  All I would ask anyone to do is consider facts over baseless objections. 
                
                    posted by
                    gomedome
                     on March 8, 2012 at 8:57 AM
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                Our president says that his position on this issue is "evolving."
I'm sure that is true for an awful lot of people, even including myself.  When such issues invade family life in personal ways, how can they not question the validity of long held religious points of view.
   
   
                
                    posted by
                    TAPS.
                     on March 8, 2012 at 8:16 AM
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                    the religious put on their "crusader armor"
                
                march out to defeat the infidelity
  Onward Christian Soldiers!
  there's the reason for what should not even be an issue
                
                    posted by
                    Xeno-x
                     on March 7, 2012 at 6:36 PM
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                    Gome.....He should be holding his head down in shame and wearing 
                
                sack cloth washed in the tears of the abused Children, instead of trying to have his say in this countries State matters. I imagine Harper will quietly make the situation clear to him!
                
                    posted by
                    Kabu
                     on March 7, 2012 at 1:50 PM
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                    Kabu - that is how it is handled for the most part in Canada
                
                No group, religious or otherwise has any obligation to perform a marriage ceremony that they do not condone. But for some reason this is not enough of a concession for some. The local catholic bishop for example just recently was quoted as saying that same sex marriage threatens Canadian birth rates and will in time have a crippling effect on our economy because of this. (only slightly paraphrased) . . my questions to him are: How? . . . as in how can same sex marriage possibly affect declining birth rates? How many children does he think these gay people were going to have if same sex marriage was not an option for them?
  Was he suggesting that they attempt to pass as straight, marry an opposite sex partner, have an obligatory child or two and live in their own private misery for the rest of their lives, just like in the good old days? . . with the historical track record of his institution remaining virtually clueless in regards to contemporary social conscience . . . he probably was suggesting that.
                
                    posted by
                    gomedome
                     on March 7, 2012 at 11:11 AM
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                    It is still an issue in Australia sadly. I understand if a religions group 
                
                say No to marriage in their building, temple or whatever, but again that should be kept separate from State. 
                
                    posted by
                    Kabu
                     on March 7, 2012 at 10:52 AM
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                    Pat_B - Re: Legal benefits and obligations should apply to all
                
                You hit on an aspect of the debate that is hardly ever discussed when you mention "obligations". Marriage contains within it a number of legal obligations towards one's partner that are immediately assumed upon tying the knot. Meant primarily as a protection for both parties regarding access to wealth accumulated during the union, it must be difficult (and expensive) to address these issues without a marriage contract.
                
                    posted by
                    gomedome
                     on March 7, 2012 at 10:33 AM
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                    Legal benefits and obligations should apply to all
                
                domestic partners, regardless of sexual orientation. Fair's fair.
                
                    posted by
                    Pat_B
                     on March 7, 2012 at 10:08 AM
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