Here's why the angst on gay marriage

Homosexuality is not illegal. God gives freedom to chose, who are you to try to legislate morality? You are not forced to practice it, and you have the right to say it's wrong. Sin is a RELIGIOUS term, and has no place is government. Something is either legal or illegal. History does not show that those societies were destroyed because of homosexuality, in fact the Spartans, probably the most successful fighting force in history, practiced it. I agree with the writer in religious terms, and to me it's repugnant, but opposite what most Republicans believe, we are governed by a CONSTITUTION, not the Bible.

Copperhead, you're a bonehead. All legislation is a statement of what is right and wrong in the eyes of the state so legislation does codify "morality".

J. Elaine Craig is not trying to legislate morality GACopper...What is being said is not said to irritate you or others...It is being said as truth of right and wrong...Homosexuality is a sin...The God who created all the earth, all worlds, as well as all mankind said it is wrong...So when your told something is wrong by God who created you it stands to reason to give it some serious though....Your not going to have to answer to the Constitution, to the Supreme Court Justices or even the President for past, present or future sins GACopper but I guarantee you, I, all of us will stand before God...Sin is sin...God is not going to care about the differences you believe in or don't believe in...God only cares about not sinning...Believe it or not there is only one true right way to live and living immoral isn't one of them...

We are not a theocracy, yet. Most laws make something illegal when harm comes to oneself, someone else, or to property. There are a lot archaic laws mentioned in the bible that we do not follow, nor should we.

Homosexuality may not be illegal but sodomy and oral sex acts are.

GaC, your light shines bright. I'm sure you'll have a lot of new "friends" now.

Patricia, just from reading these posts over the last several weeks, I'd be willing to bet that GaC has a lot more friends than you do.

I'll bet she does too. I'm particular.

Gee GACopperhead. Some things aren't a sin and are illegal like J-walking and then there is murder that is both sin and illegal. I don't have a problem with homosexuals but I do with their movement-because it is just like religion being in your face and you need to accept my belief. Remember when AIDS first broke out and the legitimate health concerns by local authorities as to the behaviors in "gay" bath houses were resisted, protested, and demonized. Within a year they were dropping like flies and the gay community was begging for intervention and assistance. Hollywood clamored to AIDS raising money like they did for Obama. Secondly, rather than fight for something less in your face like gay unions and legal rights they prefer to step on religion's toes with gay marriage. They also take a strategy that portrays "gay" as "normal" rather than a "different" sexual preference like sadomasochism, beastiality, etc. There is normal and then different. The movement has these morons who take poor positions which do more harm than good.

GACopperhead....yes homosexuality is a choice, so is prostitution. Shall we legalize it, too so as not to impose morality on others?

When I was younger, I was told all about how men and women were attracted to each other. I saw it in real life with couples and families, in the media on televison shows, and eventually in sex education classes when we discussed the physical and psychological changes boys and girls undergo, and how people of the opposite sex feel about each other. I absorbed all of this information, eager to figure out why I didn't feel like everyone said I did. Because against what everyone else said, I was not attracted to girls. I was attracted to boys. I figured it was just a weird quirk. Some of my friends had PlayStations, I had a Nintendo 64, and I thought that just as they liked girls, I liked guys. That is honestly how I felt, and although I cannot force you to believe me, I never, in my entire life, made a conscious choice to live an "alternative lifestyle" that I knew absolutely nothing about. This was all well and good, until I reached my teens and I was told that the way I was born was "a sin punishable by death" and that I was doomed to eternal damnation. What would I gain from choosing not to be attracted to girls?

Why would anyone "choose" to deny that and instead carry on a weird false sexual relationship with people they weren't attracted to? Regardless of its religious or moral status, it's weird to say "I like girls, I want to have sex with girls, but I'll instead ignore them and just have sex with guys." Does that make ANY sense, on any level? Even in our most primal, animalistic, biological levels, devoid of religion or morality, how can one deny the basic sexual feelings that define who we are? I have no clue why I am homosexual. I was not abused, sodomized, raped, molested, or assaulted by anyone as a kid. My parents are loving, hard-working people who have been married for more than twenty years. I moved around a lot, but I grew up in a very stable household with a constant mother figure and father figure. When you guys accuse the families of homosexuals of horrible crimes, that hurts very deeply. But what hurts far worse is that, because of something I know in my heart of hearts that I absolutely cannot control, I am damned. You have damned me because of what a six-thousand-year-old book says.

If God loves all of the people he creates, and he has created them exactly as he wants them to be, and the only way sin enters their life is through their thoughts, behaviors, and decisions, then I cannot be a sinner (at least in terms of homosexuality) because, as far as I can tell, barring some weird extraneous circumstances beyond my control, God created me to be a homosexual, if we are assuming that God exists, God created man, etc. Mrs. Craig is the paragon of ignorance. You have cast the first stone, and my Scripture says that only one man in all of history has the right to do that. I would bet money, actual money, that you have never met a homosexual. Yes, there are some people who are "out loud" and choose to participate in "gay pride" parades, etc. But what I demand, because it is a fundamental right of my country, my biological species, and my God, is that I am treated like any other person. All men are created equal, and although I cannot demand you to believe me when I say homosexuality is not a choice, I CAN demand, by virtue of my rights guaranteed by the Constitution, that you do not treat me like a third-class citizen.

I am a human being. I wake up in the morning like you do. I eat breakfast like you do. I go to work and school like you do. I have friends like you do. I have hobbies like you do. I vote like you do. I drive a car like you do. I have opinions and beliefs and arguments in my head like you do. I have dreams and hopes and dreads and fears like you do. I do not want to marry a rock, like Rick McKee's absolutely ridiculous editorial cartoon once showed. I have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that the Founding Fathers and God have guaranteed to me. You, Mrs. Craig, and your like, can build yourselves an Animal Farm and write "Some animals are more equal than others" in letters as big as you want on your farm. But remember what happens at the end of that story, Mrs. Craig, around the card table. Casting pearls before you may end up being a waste of my time, but it never hurts to try. It is people like you that might end up turning this world into Orwell's other nightmare. And that is a fear we all have, homosexual or otherwise.

Homosexual marriage has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with extending the rights guaranteed by our constitution to every citizen. The constitution is not a holy text nor is it a book of the Bible. If a church does not wish to conduct these ceremonies, that is their prerogative, but the state should have no such distinction. Bigots like the writer of this letter are a far more dangerous element in our society than any homosexual has ever been or ever will be.

I would even go so far as to say that we should separate the church part of marriage from the state part of marriage. My parents were married by a judge in Denmark, with no formal ceremony. Does that make them sinners?

Oh, give it a rest. The writer stated it is a sin according to the Bible and was very clear to point out that THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE WORD GOD need to take a stand. If you don't believe in God's word then the letter wasn't for you. Some of you believe a response is necessary for every single letter (LTE) as if your opinion really matters. If mine doesn't matter then what makes you so special?

Because in this particular argument, I know way more about it than you do, bro. :D

Gnosisedge. Thank you for speaking from you heart and being honest about what you think. I have been reading Bertrand Russell's works. He says that "Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin - more than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free. It is the light of the world, and the cheif glory of man." God Bless you Gnosisedge and continue to stand tall and proud of who you are.

Make no mistake, Strickland, I am no more "proud" of being homosexual than I am "proud" of being white, or male, or brown-haired. I am, however, proud of the choices I make. That, I think, is what people should be proud of, if anything at all.

"if you refuse to listen to God, who set up the family unit, you can believe and do whatever you want" Okay, thanks. I will believe whatever I want. That is America, right? The rules and laws are here to protect EVERYONE's freedom to pursue happiness including your right to practice your exclusive religion.

"The wheels of the hatred machine turn and turn and turn."
Posted by gnosisedge on Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:03 AM .....>>>>>.....So gnos, why does your first post attribute "hatred" those who hold a different point of view than you?

Homosexual couples have as much right to a stable, happy, committed relationship as straight couples, and I fail to see how and why people can't understand that THAT is all they want. No one's trying to convert anyone; as Lewis Black said, "There's no Jehovah's Witnesses of gay-dom." And if people could just take their eyes off of the Bible for a second and put some time and effort into trying to understand their fellow man, here and now, a few sets of eyes could be opened.

Gnosisedge. If I offended you, I'm sorry. When I said "stand tall & proud" I was refering to your entire life. Today the world must respond to the challenge that all cultures are merging into a single global community. I was blessed last year to hear His holiness the Dalai Lama speak here in Georgia. It changed my life. His wisdom helped me to understand that I am many things. I am middle-aged, I am a son. I am a brother. I am scared. I am homosexual. All these parts make up the whole of who I am: A human being. In learning to take pride in myself as a human I have come to understand my humble place in the grand scheme of things and that is I am blessed to be alive. Reading your words today made me remember something my Grandfather once told me, "Life is pain. It is suffering, but God I'm alive and that's wonderful." True tolerance in life invloves the capacity to admit diversity is real and fundamental in nature. As far as Ms. Craig's letter today it has a lot of fear. Her fear of the unknown. Peace go with you - Michael

When will this nonsense end. People are born Gay. Who would choose to be gay?

Now if they are born that way then it needs study. Is it a gene or chemical imblance?

Find the cure and offer it to who ever wants it.

Multiple wives and mistresses were considered the norm in the bible as well. Does the letter writer support that as well.

Exactly the point ... it was acceptable if they were members of the opposite sex, for the purpose of procreation at a time when the earth was minimally populated ... not the same sex for the purpose of perversion! I think we have enough people on this planet now so one wife is plenty! Any guy who decides he needs to deal with more than one woman in his life deserves whatever hell he gets.

Paws: Although that comment was admittedly terse, I am in no way saying that people whose opinions are different than mine deserve hatred. And for that matter, that comment wasn't even related to this argument.

Otpor: Admittedly, though, there is a large subculture of homosexuals who like to dress up like Jambi the Genie from Pee-Wee's Playhouse and do lots of weird things in public. That's not who I am, and I don't support their viewpoint, but I support their right to express their opinions.

Strickland: Gotcha. It was sort of a knee-jerk reaction to the word "proud." Thanks for the support.

Toomuchmoney: That's another issue entirely. I don't think I'd take a "gay cure" if it was invented, if it can be invented at all. It's who I am, and I wouldn't want that to change. That would be like inventing a cure for having blue eyes, or liking The Clash.

Shamrock: I personally would argue that that provision, in Leviticus, was meant to foster the increasing of the ranks of a very small group of people. Although I have no doubt of the wisdom of our ancestors, I don't think the Hebrews really understood sexuality on a level we understand it today.

Gnos: good points, all. And I challenge anyone on here to present a logical, cogent example of how gay marriage is an assault on the American family.

GAC, Sparta also fell. I personally couldn't care less what people do behind closed doors, but don't try to cram homosexuality down my or my children's throat. I will take God's word that homo sexuality is an abomination (sin). Many states have passed laws to insure tht marriage is between a man and a woman. Perhaps the Constitution should be amended to do the same. otpor, homsexual marriage is an assualt on the American family when snall children are taken to such a wedding and provided flower petals to throw, thus indoctrinating them that homosexualtiy is OK rather than letting them grow up and form their own opinions. Man and woman were made by God to procreate-show me a homo pair that can procreate.