ten resons why gay marriage shoud be illigal

Originally posted by TLomon
If they attend a church that allows gay marriages, that is fine. However, by raising a ruckus because a particular church doesn't perform gay marriages, that is imposing on other peoples beliefs. There is a balance between the two.

There is no church that allows Gay marriage. It is impossible, because the state impose restrictions on marriage against the precepts of any religion. By the state imposing a definition on what could be classed as a religious right, the state is restriction the freedom of religion.

I could be wrong, but I thought that one of the foundations of the US was the right to practice religious freedom rather than being imposed by a governmental authority. Doesn't that mean that a restriction on gay marriage is un-American. (I'm not an American - the government restricting freedom of religion is possibly not an inclusion within the bill of rights,)

As for the "as long as you change the rights of those in civil unions" argument. Civil unions are what are referred to as a "de facto" union. "De facto" is a legal definition which refers to common law as opposed to statute law. This means that civil unions are not protected by "de jure" definitions, or to put it another way, are subject to the whine of the courts - most specifically the Supreme court (in the US).

A marriage is, by law, a life long commitment unless dissolved (ie, due to divorce). Civil unions cannot be classed as a lifelong commitment as the common law surrounding them can be changed by the courts, not by the house of government (senate and representatives). This means that civil unions are in fact kept as a substitute to marriage based upon the decision of the high/supreme court, which is a body of appointed individuals, as opposed to the decision of both houses of government, which is excess of 100 representatives chosen by (theoretically) the will of the people.

In short, civil union is not the same as marriage, by definition, and in practise. If civil unions were to become a part of statute law that would be through the passing of a bill - exactly the same as if same sex marriage was to become a legally protected right.