Why do religious people care about gay marriage?

[Bavin]

This is very interesting question, to me. Yes, I am an rationalist, but I was Christian before I decided to use my brain. And I still don't understand where the supporters of Prop 8 get their hate from. So, religious nutjobs of America, WHY DO YOU CARE?! Regular religious folks can answer too. Here's a list of common answers, and my rebuttals

Gay sex is icky- They don't want to have sex with you.

The bible says its wrong- The Bible says a lot of things, and the bible was written half by Rabbis, and half by priests in the first century. Also, why would you care if they sin? If one man sins, it dosent mean his neighbor will go to hell too.

Marriage is a Christian Institution- Marriage is a HUMAN institution. Other religions have marriages, even atheists get married.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN!- This is one of the many issues where the children are brought in where they aren't effected at all. They are just dragged in by demagogues. They don't talk about straight marrige in school, why would they talk about gay ones?

An I promise, that, like Rush Limbaugh, I will keep half my brain behind my back, but unlike Rush Limbaugh, I am not high on prescription meds.

[NERVUN]

Well, as a Christian I care about gay marriage because I am a strong supporter of equality and want my country to make it legal for them to marry. I also have a personal reason in that my wife is Japanese and it wouldn't be too long ago that I would not have been able to marry her because we are different races. Since I love her with all my heart and have found happiness with her, why should I deny that to someone else just because the love of their life happens to be of the same gender?

[Bavin]

A tolerant religious person. My apologies if I offended you. I meant religious people that oppose same-sex marriage. I will change the poll, if possible.

[Lancaster of Wessex]

Yes, I am an rationalist, but I was Christian before I decided to use my brain.

Well that's unfair. I am a Christian and I consider myself fairly rational; they are not exclusive and I am quite happy trying to follow Christ while following the latest advances in scientific research, etc.; but I digress.

As a Christian, I try and follow the prescripts of the Bible (despite my breaking of those prescripts more often than I'd care to admit); it explicitly outlines that homosexuality is a sin, and marriage is outlined as between man and woman. And that's that, for the most part.

However (and I stress however), I do not believe that gays and lesbians should be forbidden from entering into civil unions that should grant them the same civil rights as married couples (benefits, insurance, blah blah blah). They are not evil people to be condemned and spat upon, and here in Canada they have been granted many of the same right as heterosexuals; Canada has not fallen apart or degenerated, and I'm very proud to call this country my home.

[NERVUN]

A tolerant religious person. My apologies if I offended you. I meant religious people that oppose same-sex marriage. I will change the poll, if possible.

Believe it or not, we do actually exist!

[Secruss]

Quotin' the Bible:

"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." Leviticus 18:22

"For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due." Romans 1:26-27

"But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for abusers of themselves with men, for menstealers, for liars, for false swearers, and if there be any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine;" 1 Timothy 1:8-10

And if the Bible isn't good enough... Well... Hooray for atheism, I guess.

[Katganistan]

Well, as a Christian I care about gay marriage because I am a strong supporter of equality and want my country to make it legal for them to marry. [W]hy should I deny that to someone else just because the love of their life happens to be of the same gender?

^^
This.

Love thy neighbor as thyself.

[Wilgrove]

This is my theory about why the Christian Rights are so obessed with gay marriage.

See, they all try to live up to the perfect image of Jesus Christ, and some of them come pretty close to it. However, for Christians who "protest too much", they have a secret life behind their white bread family of a wife, two kids in the suburbs with a dog. They have a gay lover living in an apartment in the more "ethnic" part of town. Now the gay lovers do love their men/women, and they want to be with them. However, the Christians don't want this topic to come up during sweet gay lovin'. So to avoid the whole "When are we getting married?" conversation, they oppose gay marriage. That way if they do bring it up all they have to say is "Sorry, but we can't get married, they won't allow it."

[Katganistan]

This is very interesting question, to me. Yes, I am an rationalist, but I was Christian before I decided to use my brain. And I still don't understand where the supporters of Prop 8 get their hate from. So, religious nutjobs of America, WHY DO YOU CARE?! Regular religious folks can answer too. Here's a list of common answers, and my rebuttals

Gay sex is icky- They don't want to have sex with you.

The bible says its wrong- The Bible says a lot of things, and the bible was written half by Rabbis, and half by priests in the first century. Also, why would you care if they sin? If one man sins, it dosent mean his neighbor will go to hell too.

Marriage is a Christian Institution- Marriage is a HUMAN institution. Other religions have marriages, even atheists get married.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN!- This is one of the many issues where the children are brought in where they aren't effected at all. They are just dragged in by demagogues. They don't talk about straight marrige in school, why would they talk about gay ones?

An I promise, that, like Rush Limbaugh, I will keep half my brain behind my back, but unlike Rush Limbaugh, I am not high on prescription meds.

This whole thread comes off as a troll. You're painting Christians with the broad brush of "prejudiced wackos".
Try again, but a bit more neutral.