Why can't I marry as you do? What threat is there in love?

[luckydevil]

If the budhist opinion was illegal and there were no books on it, do you think there would be more budhists or less?

Less of course ( if it was possible to get rid of all Buddhist doctrine). The problem with this is that you can't make weed disappear ( which I know you are referring too). There is also documented fact that prohibition failed. I was also talking about a particular age group, teens and young adults ( they by nature tend to rebel)

Oh and I am not letting if you off the hook.

Which is it? Does legal mean approval or do you believe differently?

EDIT:

It is ok to be wrong

[Enter Apotheosis]

Looking at your sig, that doesn't mean a thing to me.:laugh:

Bubba tried to weasel out of a bet... so I'm serving as a friendly reminder. Note the words in the pic and the text below

[SUNSTONE]

Less of course ( if it was possible to get rid of all Buddhist doctrine). The problem with this is that you can't make weed disappear ( which I know you are referring too). There is also documented fact that prohibition failed. I was also talking about a particular age group, teens and young adults ( they by nature tend to rebel)

Oh and I am not letting if you off the hook.

Which is it? Does legal mean approval or do you believe differently?

It only proves my point even more.

You make something legal, more people are going to do it.

I don't agree with the budhist opinion, but I don't want to outlaw opinions or ideas.

Smoking weed, gay sex are actions, not ideas.

[SUNSTONE]

Bubba tried to weasel out of a bet... so I'm serving as a friendly reminder. Note the words in the pic and the text below

I thought your name was bubba, after all you are in hear defending gay rights. lmao:laugh:

[Enter Apotheosis]

It only proves my point even more.

You make something legal, more people are going to do it.

There's a difference between making something illegal and eradicating it.

I thought your name was bubba, after all you are in hear defending gay rights. lmao:laugh:

I know, I know... I've already pointed this out elsewhere. What can I say? I put up with it because bubba chickened out.

[luckydevil]

It only proves my point even more.

You make something legal, more people are going to do it.

I don't agree with the budhist opinion, but I don't want to outlaw opinions or ideas.

Smoking weed, gay sex are actions, not ideas.

It doesn't prove your point at all.

Do you want to ban gay sex? Or in others words criminalize homosexuality?

[SUNSTONE]

It doesn't prove your point at all.

Do you want to ban gay sex? Or in others words criminalize homosexuality?

yup

[Enter Apotheosis]

yup

Yet another person I'll see in hell :laugh:

[luckydevil]

yup

I guess I will never understand the urge to rule the lives of others.

[swaroopm]

CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION.

Why do you type in caps, but your name is in lower case?

Very simple. As an individual, I am relatively unimportant. However, basic principles of logic are important to the proper interpretation of data, and it would seem they need to be emphasized to people who have yet to grasp the concept. Otherwise we will continue to be subjected to people using fallacious conclusions to justify their intolerance.

[RLeVan]

I guess I will never understand the urge to rule the lives of others.

If we could only get the church to learn that, we would be much more content.

[SkinsD]

what about arranged gay marriage

:laugh: :laugh: I'm cryin here!

[Thiebear]

I've been divorced twice.

You would hurt the sanctity of marriage.

ahahahahahahhahaha!

[Mr. S]

I've been divorced twice.

You would hurt the sanctity of marriage.

ahahahahahahhahaha!

if true, nice :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

no offense to you or anything, just your line about hurting the sanctity of marriage.

[dfitzo53]

Thats the problem. Marriage should have never have gotten involved with the government in the first place. I still view marriage as a religious ceremony and I am trying to defend it. Whether the church, government or both are able to perform ceremonies does not deter me from trying to save the last shred of marriage before homosexuals ruin it for good. I pray that homosexuals are not allowed to marry by the time I find my wife. Marriage will become pointless should that day ever come that you can marry whomever you like.

I see two major flaws in your argument. First, while running around screaming about the falling sky, you've made nothing in the way of a specific argument about the negative impacts of homosexual marriage. You've simply repeated over and over that it's bad.

Second, the Christian church doesn't have a monopoly on marriage, nor should it. People have been marrying since long before Jesus was born, and continue to be married in agrarian, horticulturalist and foraging societies which do not follow one of the world's major religions. If you want to argue from a religious standpoint that homosexual marriage is wrong and homosexuality is immoral that's fine, but the most you can hope to accomplish is to ban it within your own church.

A Christian does not have the authority to break up a marriage sanctified in another religion, nor should he have the power to prevent it from happening.

[dreamingwolf]

I see two major flaws in your argument. First, while running around screaming about the falling sky, you've made nothing in the way of a specific argument about the negative impacts of homosexual marriage. You've simply repeated over and over that it's bad.

Second, the Christian church doesn't have a monopoly on marriage, nor should it. People have been marrying since long before Jesus was born, and continue to be married in agrarian, horticulturalist and foraging societies which do not follow one of the world's major religions. If you want to argue from a religious standpoint that homosexual marriage is wrong and homosexuality is immoral that's fine, but the most you can hope to accomplish is to ban it within your own church.

A Christian does not have the authority to break up a marriage sanctified in another religion, nor should he have the power to prevent it from happening.

what about polygamy?

[rincewind]

This is what I don't get - the people that are so against being gay are usually the religious (and usually Christian). I thought you were taught to love your fellow man - yet anti-gay people's posts are filled with underlying hate and venom. Smile on your brother, man.

[Insomniac]

Gay marriage is fine with me but you dont need to get married to validate your love for somone:2cents:

amen to that. i know a straight couple that has 4 kids, and have been happily together for 37 years without being married.

besides, marriage makes it harder to just break up with someone, and i'm sure divorce would mess with your head a lot too.

i voted in favor of the amendments, but the wording on it here in virginia is what made it tough for me to vote yes. i am totally in favor of gay couples being able to have a ceremony, enjoy the same rights as married couples, and all that. i am, however, against it being called marriage, because it is not marriage.

you cannot change the meaning of a word to appease one group of people. call it something different, but it is not marriage. i am a married, straight man. here is an example of why i believe what i do...........i am straight, and if someone starts saying i'm gay to everyone, i would be offended, because i am not gay, just as you would be if someone said you were hetero and only acting gay to meet women. thats why i say they should get the bond and same rights, just a new word, not new definition.

my brother is gay, and he and i are very good friends. he feels the same way you do, but he sees my point. him and his boyfriend have been together 3 years, and will probably be together a very long time, so they want that sacred bond too. i agree, but it's not marriage, that's all.

marriage

–noun 1.the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.

and so everyone knows, i do not practice any religion, i have been to church only 5 times in my life, so calling my views christian would be ridiculous.

[gbear]

Are you really trying to say that the meaning of words doesn't change? Look up the word "gay."

As for the shorter life span arguement, why does this help your arguement? Why is the length of a life more important than the quality of someone's life? As I raise a kid with a medical condition that has a good chance of killing her in the first 5-6 years of her life, I was forced to ask the question "what is the real goal?" The conclussion my wife and I reached was that the ultimate goal is to give her the best life she can have for how ever long she is with us. I hope she grows old enough to marry whomever she loves.

As a married man, I can tell you that being married is one of those things that enhances my life. The enhancements go beyond tax breaks, lower insurance rates, inheritance when I die, and hospital visitation rights. They go to bond witnessed by friends and family. They go to a bond recognized by many (though the threads on whether to hit on a married woman make me question how much many of you recognize a marriage between a man and a woman). Marriage goes to a bond between a couple. It's a saying this is forever in a way we both recognize. It's a recognition when you fight that the marriage won't disintigrate. It means being there when the other is sick. It means never doubting that when needed your spouse will be there. It's a healthy thing. Married people live longer...which makes the arguement against gay marriage on health grounds odder still.

But even if it were a negative health issue, can you not admit that there are material and nonmaterial enhancements to one's life from marriage? Is the ultimate goal a life well lived or a long life, and why do you get to make that choice for somebody else?

As for the arguement marriage is to have babies...BS. I don't need a license to fornicate. My wife and I may never have our own biological kids. Odd that everyone recognizes our marriage. Why do you think that is?

[Hokieskin]

I think one day we will look back at the way America treated gays along the same lines as the way America treated blacks in the 60s.

Are you serious? I haven't heard of gays being fire hosed or having dogs released on them. Do homosexuals go to jail because of protesting? Is there an anti-gay organization like the KKK? Has a gay leader been assassinated? Maybe it just doesn't get reported in the media and that is why I haven't heard about these things but I think to compare the two is ridiculous.

In the 1860s blacks were slaves. So does that compare?

FH, I hope you find happiness and blessing in whatever circumstances you find yourself. I am a Christian but I don't think the sin of homosexuality is any worse than the sin of having anger in my heart or two heterosexuals living together before marriage. We have all fallen short of the Glory of God.

FH, a honest question: Why can't you come home to your partner you love like you seem to imply in post #46? I am speaking from ignorance here because I have never been in the situation. Why can't you just live with your partner? Why do you have to be married? Is it easier because of finances and leases or what? What do you want/get from marriage?

[PleaseBlitz]

This is what I don't get - the people that are so against being gay are usually the religious (and usually Christian). I thought you were taught to love your fellow man - yet anti-gay people's posts are filled with underlying hate and venom. Smile on your brother, man.

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[Henry]

thats why i say they should get the bond and same rights, just a new word, not new definition.

Well unfortunately for you and your brother that will never happen in Virginia now, because the amendment you voted in favor of bans that as well.

[DCsportsfan53]

YOu believe that legal doesn't mean approval, but I believe different.

This whole idea that if you make something illegal will only spark more people to do it more often is totally untrue.

Weed is illegal and thou you can get it if you looked hard enough, it's still a lot harder to get than tobacco.

And far more people smoke tobacco than they do weed.

If weed was legal and you found it in either ABC stores or in every store out there, you would see a HUGE increase in weed smoking.

This is what we would refer to as an uneducated guess. As BornASkinsFan pointed out, Holland has actually seen weed use decrease, especially among young people, and have a lower rate of use than the US DESPITE the fact that it's legal there. Not to mention, all the evidence we could ever need for this is right there in the history of Prohibition.

I guess I will never understand the urge to rule the lives of others.

Man do I hear you there, makes no sense. You'd think life is challenging enough that you wouldn't waste time worrying about who other people **** for no reason. Oh, I forgot, they want to save the poor confused souls Bigotry in the guise of religion is always putrid.

This is what I don't get - the people that are so against being gay are usually the religious (and usually Christian). I thought you were taught to love your fellow man - yet anti-gay people's posts are filled with underlying hate and venom. Smile on your brother, man.

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

Beautifully said.

[Air Force Cane]

whether gays want to admit it- this country was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and foundations. As much as Western civilization was.

Pursuant to this, marriage is a construct with both religious and societal overtones.

If you want to change that so two guys can marry- then shouldn't we allow three women to marry two men?

how about a 52 year old man marrying a 12 year old girl if they "love each other"?

how about a 52 year old man marrying a 12 year old boy if they "love each other"?

how about marrying a poodle if you "love" the poodle?

if you destroy the entire essence of marriage- why couldn't a man then demand equal protection under the Constitution to marry 5 different women?

basically to let gays marry means you have destroyed marriage and the fragmentation of our society will quickly ensue. hence it has had about 21 states vote AGAINST gay marriage. Americans are overwhelmingly against it- even the democrats are.

[Thiebear]

Continuing on my thought.

I've been divorced twice... I think you guys/gals have it too easy... You should enjoy a real divorce. Not this breakup thing my co-worker did with his man... that was too easy...