Why does gay marriage bother Americans so much?

[fokker_triplane]

Please, no moronic answers. I'm not gay. I do cherish freedom though, if I was told I couldn't marry my wife, or a person of a different race because society didn't feel "comfortable", well that's too effin bad. Why are Americans so threatened by gay marriage? I don't want the standard answers ( oh because conservatives are stupid or something). Please something intelligent. Do you know the divorce rate in The United States started to go up independently of the gay marriage movement, and gays in The U.S.? It seems to fluctuate more with the economy than gays. How about the numbers of single mothers raising kids. It seems like there are a lot of other factors like financial problems for example which can ruin marriages. How can somebody by virtue of being gay and a couple and being "married" disrupt the marriage of a straight couple? By this logic, we should see absurdly high divorce rates in San Francisco... not reallyPlease answer this question with some logical thought and not raw emotion.

[nicky]

The theistic lobby has great power in the US, a great percentage of the population believes in God and the Bible and especially in the red states and the so called "Bible Zone",those people have the power to put whoever they want in places of power.The Bible is against homosexuality = so are they = so are the people who choose to vote for.Again, it's just a religious issue and as all of those issues it doesn't make any logical sense.

[nicky]

I've said it before & I'll say it again - as a generalization, humanity sucks.People make themselves feel more virtuous & better about their miserable lives by judging others. Crazy. Those pilgrims sailed half way around the world FOR religious freedom, yet many of their very own decedents conspire to take that right away from others...too many churches preach the USA was founded to be a christian nation. Too many churches preach about god's love with a baseball bat.Too damn many hypocrites, because if any of those nuts actually believed what their own teachings were about, they would be turning the other cheek, or giving their fellow man the same rights their own god did - the freedom to choose their own path. Just plain madness & too hard to try to explain as each individual nut will have their own pathology.

[rxaler]

There's no logical answer. It boils down to FEAR & what they THINK will happen. They think it will lead to a slippery slope of other types of marriages/relationships, which is untrue. Otherwise, don't you think that those countries/states that recognize SSMs would allow bestiality, marriage to children or incestuous realtionships?We want our marriages to be treated the same way as any other marriage. No more, no less. You would think, after all the trials & tribulations this country has been through with discrimination & unequal treatment of its citizens because of religion, race/color, nationality, gender, disability or veteran status, we would have learned something, right? Apparently not. Once again, we are discriminating against another group of tax paying, law abiding citizens who are contributing members to our society. 2 consenting adults REGARDLESS of sex should be allowed to marry as long as they meet their state's regulation for marriage. Yet even when they DO, our federal government STILL denies them the full benefits (1130+) of marriage that are automatically bestowed on straight married couples.My mother-in-law, who I believe is a very intelligent woman, still has an issue with her daughter & me marrying. So much so, she didn't come to the wedding after talking to her priests, praying over it, etc. BTW, her Catholic priest told her she SHOULD go.She sees marriage as tradition, as a sacrament, & religious. Yet, when we tell her it's a state issue, she starts bringing up the Bible. But I tell her to leave the Bible out, because without the STATE's license, that marriage in the Church woulddn't count. If we go by the Biblical version, then she would be ok with:. Polygynous Marriage: Probably the most common form of marriage in the Bible, it is where a man has more than one wife.2. Levirate Marriage: When a woman was widowed without a son, it became the responsibility of the brother-in-law or close male relative to impregnate her. (Gen. 38:6-10).3. A man, a woman and her property -a female slave: The famous "handmaiden" sketch(Gen. 16:1-6) and Jacob (Gen. 30:4-5).4. A man, one or more wives, and some concubines: The definition of a concubine varies but they tended to be live in mistresses. Concubines were tied to their "husband," but had lower status than a wife. Their children were not usually heirs, so they were safe outlets for sex without risking the line of succession. (Judges 19:1-30).5. Male soldier and female prisoner of war: Women could be taken as booty from a successful campaign and forced to become wives or concubines. Deuteronomy 21:11-14 6. A male rapist and his victim: Deuteronomy 22:28-29 describes how an unmarried woman who had been raped must marry her attacker.7. A male and female slave: A female slave could be married to a male slave without consent, presumably to make more slaves.8. Monogamous, heterosexual marriage: Mostly arranged. Also remember that inter-faith or cross-ethnic marriages were forbidden for large chunks of biblical history.When I told her this, she got flustered & talked about Jesus going to a wedding in the Bible that was amn & a woman, & she didn't think those other type of marriages existed. I sent her the chapter & verses, & she hasn't gotten back to me since.Until the government gets out of this semantics mess of the word "marriage"& issuing marriage licenses for a civil OR religious ceremony, the issue over same sex marriage will continue to be a hot button issue & people will continue to fight for marriage equality. But since the government makes no distinction over a religious or civil marriage, I will continue to fight for equality for same sex couples who are married or in any other state sanctioned union so they can get the same federal benefits as a heterosexual couple.

[nicky]

Evangelical Christianity (also known as Christian Fundamentalism) is deeply rooted in American society. For generations we have been told that there is only one proper way to live, and that is in a "Nuclear Family" with no divorce, no gays, etc. Evangelicals are very socially conservative, and desire for America to return to the state that it was in prior to the Sexual Revolution in the 1960s. Evangelicals believe in the Bible's infallibility, and that the words of Paul the Apostle (the only opponent of homosexuality in the Bible) were actually God's words. Of course, anyone with half a brain can realize that the few verses that condemn gay people are based upon the author's personal and cultural bias. Regardless, Evangelicals stress that all gay people are "immoral" and should be oppressed. They believe that we can somehow "change" our sexual orientation to live according to what the Bible supposedly says. Because American society is very conservative, people still assume that gay people can somehow "convert" their children into being gay themselves - a very uneducated assumption, of course. Sixty-five percent of Americans still think being gay is a choice, which frightens them. They think that since it is so "obviously" a choice, then people can somehow "catch" this "disease" (I've actually had someone tell me that lol). Since they assume being gay is always "immoral," they refuse to allow gay marriage because they feel it would "desanctify" marriage, which they assume is ordained by God. Fundamentalism is the source of America's dislike of Gay Marriage.

[NicoleM]

i think that it is important not to generalise and to understand that while some heterosexuals may truly feel "threatened" by gay marriage, some strongly disagree with it on an ideological, or religious level. in this case, it is not that they fear same-sex unions for illogical reasons, but rather because they feel that it goes against what they believe about the purpose of marriage and procreation.one does not have to be religious to disagree with same-sex marriage, even if many of the most vocal opponents are, indeed, people with strong ties to any number of Christian denominations. there are some who reject same-sex unions, because they see the role of sexual relations first and foremost as a way to procreate. consequently, people who hold such views see the key role of marriage within the context of biology.other people may oppose gay marriage based on more solidly religious grounds and may also fear that if same-sex unions become the law of the land, their church may be required to also sanction such marriages. for example, if same-sex marriage is legal, does a church minister or pastor have the right to deny the celebration of such a union in his/her church, without breaking the law, or being open to legal action? this is an important legal question and it has yet to be clarified, even in those jurisdictions where gay marriage is legal.all of this having been said, there are many heterosexuals--some of whom are also deeply religious--who support same-sex marriage and see it as a question of fundamental human rights and equality in society.

[i3myeyemakeup]

I don't feel like typing a essay for you. Way to early in the morning so I will just keep it simple, it all sums up to thisCONSERVATIVES ARE STUPID BIGOTS.

[caledonia]

May be because they were bother of what might other say about gay marriage. And, it is right that this is a religious issues. We are only following what are written on the Bible.

[TNShannon]

I've always found it interesting that the government can dictate who gets married and who does not, based on the religious lobby and the outcry from those who believe that God doesn't approve of marriage between people of the same gender. Whatever happened to the separation of Church and State?

Marriage is a legal contract, one that is signed by willing parties and can be broken, but only through the court system. It's a LEGAL contract, not a religious one. So why does religion come into the picture at all?

Two people, a man and a woman, can get married even if they are athiests, without any religious influence whatsoever, simply to garner the benefits the government offers to those who sign the marriage contract. Religion doesn't come into play then, and you don't see anyone protesting that two non-believers are taking a vow of marriage! That's because ultimately, it's a contract...not a sacrament, at least not in the eyes of the law.

I don't have a problem with anyone who wants to marry, so long as they don't infringe on the legal rights of others.