Same sex marriages!

I have a question that concerns marriage and government. In America, do you get legal benefits from the state only if you get married in church or do you have to make a state marriage as well? Because I did some research and in Croatia if you get married in church only it doesn't count. You have to have a state marriage to get legal benefits and of course, if you are religious, you can get married in church, but it doesn't really matter with the government. And you cant get married in church before you get a state marriage. I think that is fair. Of course I don't believe that same sex marriages will get legalized in Croatia any time soon. Especially when I hear what our politicians say about it

Dr. Cuddy:

I have a question that concerns marriage and government. In America, do you get legal benefits from the state only if you get married in church or do you have to make a state marriage as well? Because I did some research and in Croatia if you get married in church only it doesn't count. You have to have a state marriage to get legal benefits and of course, if you are religious, you can get married in church, but it doesn't really matter with the government. And you cant get married in church before you get a state marriage. I think that is fair. Of course I don't believe that same sex marriages will get legalized in Croatia any time soon. Especially when I hear what our politicians say about it

You have to get a marriage license in America to be considered married. Any couple, straight or gay.
The problem, of course, is that gays can't get that license in most states.
What happens in the church is simply a ceremony.

Darkromance:

Honestly, I don't have such a good opinion about it. But maybe it's good to imagine how it is in someone elses shoes. I mean, people are only themselves once, and every movement in life that we take is to make us happier. Just let them have their own preference. It's their life.

The thing is, it isn't just their life. It affects everyone. Im all for equal rights, I think society needs to treat everyone equally. But allowing gay marriage doesn't do that, because it isn't fair to religious people. I think that everyone should be allowed to get the same government benifits, regardless of their religion, and sadly right now that isn't happening. Civil unions aren't the same as marriage (in America) because the national government refuses to take a firm stand on this issue, so it becomes the states choice. They decided what you get from a civil union, and they lack the authority to give out national benifits like filing for taxes together.

Kurtni:

Darkromance:

Honestly, I don't have such a good opinion about it. But maybe it's good to imagine how it is in someone elses shoes. I mean, people are only themselves once, and every movement in life that we take is to make us happier. Just let them have their own preference. It's their life.

The thing is, it isn't just their life. It affects everyone. Im all for equal rights, I think society needs to treat everyone equally. But allowing gay marriage doesn't do that, because it isn't fair to religious people. I think that everyone should be allowed to get the same government benifits, regardless of their religion, and sadly right now that isn't happening. Civil unions aren't the same as marriage (in America) because the national government refuses to take a firm stand on this issue, so it becomes the states choice. They decided what you get from a civil union, and they lack the authority to give out national benifits like filing for taxes together.

Marriage isn't solely a religious thing. If it were you would pick up your marriage license at the courthouse. You'd get it at the church.
And I'm religious. I'm a Bad Christian, but I am religious.
I don't think churches should be forced to perform same-sex ceremonies, but I do think that if they choose to they should.
I don't care if they're unhappy if we get married in a courthouse.
People will always be unhappy with something the government does, religious or not.

Everyone needs to be issued a marriage license, regardless of sexual orientation. If you want to refer to it as something else, fine, but it's a marriage license. Why? Simply put, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Put in action to defend blacks, but it's all about backing up the vague 14th Amendment and assuring equal rights for all Americans. It's the American way. C'mon. Swallow your pride. Religion doesn't even need to enter into the equation.

dirtyhippie:

Religion doesn't even need to enter into the equation.

It doesn't, but unfortunately it's been forced into the mix.
The only reason people think same-sex marriages should be illegal is because of religion.
There is no legal reason.

druscilla; in rags:

dirtyhippie:

Religion doesn't even need to enter into the equation.

It doesn't, but unfortunately it's been forced into the mix.
The only reason people think same-sex marriages should be illegal is because of religion.
There is no legal reason.

Maybe for a marriage liscence it makes no sense, but for a wedding in a church it makes all the sense. If you're gay and want to have a wedding, find the right religion before you badger the wrong one. That's why most Christians disapprove.

Anji:

druscilla; in rags:

dirtyhippie:

Religion doesn't even need to enter into the equation.

It doesn't, but unfortunately it's been forced into the mix.
The only reason people think same-sex marriages should be illegal is because of religion.
There is no legal reason.

Maybe for a marriage liscence it makes no sense, but for a wedding in a church it makes all the sense. If you're gay and want to have a wedding, find the right religion before you badger the wrong one. That's why most Christians disapprove.

I'm a Christian. I'm not going to change religions because I'm gay.
I'm going to get married in a Christian church that isn't full of hypo-Christians and actually believes in what Jesus said instead of just picking and choosing what parts of the Bible to follow.
I wouldn't want to get married in a church like that anyway, gay or straight.
And my fiance isn't even Christian, but she's marrying me in a church.

I'm all for same sex marriages. I think same sex couples should be allowed to adopt a child as they will be raised aware of the different types of people in the world instead of blindly following the belief that straight is the only way to go.

If a couple has bore a child then one partner or another then turns gay/lesbian I do not think they should be restricted from seeing thier child

druscilla; in rags:

Anji:

druscilla; in rags:

dirtyhippie:

Religion doesn't even need to enter into the equation.

It doesn't, but unfortunately it's been forced into the mix.
The only reason people think same-sex marriages should be illegal is because of religion.
There is no legal reason.

Maybe for a marriage liscence it makes no sense, but for a wedding in a church it makes all the sense. If you're gay and want to have a wedding, find the right religion before you badger the wrong one. That's why most Christians disapprove.

I'm a Christian. I'm not going to change religions because I'm gay.
I'm going to get married in a Christian church that isn't full of hypo-Christians and actually believes in what Jesus said instead of just picking and choosing what parts of the Bible to follow.
I wouldn't want to get married in a church like that anyway, gay or straight.
And my fiance isn't even Christian, but she's marrying me in a church.

You can't tell all other Christian churches as a whole to give up what they believe is right.

The fact still remains that homosexuality is a sin in Christianity. You're right. You're a bad Christian. Infact you go so far as to say you only believe in God but not obey him. Or at least in this sense anyway. There are churches which allow same sex marriages, that however doesn't mean that they're right. However pleanty of other religions really do not see homosexuality as a problem, and those seem like less contradictory religions for gay people rather than something like Christianity.

When I say marriage, I'm strictly speaking of unions in the prescence of God. Not the piece of paper.

Anji:

druscilla; in rags:

Anji:

druscilla; in rags:

dirtyhippie:

Religion doesn't even need to enter into the equation.

It doesn't, but unfortunately it's been forced into the mix.
The only reason people think same-sex marriages should be illegal is because of religion.
There is no legal reason.

Maybe for a marriage liscence it makes no sense, but for a wedding in a church it makes all the sense. If you're gay and want to have a wedding, find the right religion before you badger the wrong one. That's why most Christians disapprove.

I'm a Christian. I'm not going to change religions because I'm gay.
I'm going to get married in a Christian church that isn't full of hypo-Christians and actually believes in what Jesus said instead of just picking and choosing what parts of the Bible to follow.
I wouldn't want to get married in a church like that anyway, gay or straight.
And my fiance isn't even Christian, but she's marrying me in a church.

You can't tell all other Christian churches as a whole to give up what they believe is right.

The fact still remains that homosexuality is a sin in Christianity. You're right. You're a bad Christian. Infact you go so far as to say you only believe in God but not obey him. Or at least in this sense anyway. There are churches which allow same sex marriages, that however doesn't mean that they're right. However pleanty of other religions really do not see homosexuality as a problem, and those seem like less contradictory religions for gay people rather than something like Christianity.

When I say marriage, I'm strictly speaking of unions in the prescence of God. Not the piece of paper.

But the problem we run ito HERE is that very few people are talking about whether Christian gays should be able to get married in the eyes of the church. That's completely and utterly up to the church. I honestly don't care. If your religion regards you as an abomination, that sucks hard, but that might mean that it's time to reassess your religion. Do you want to be a part of a religion that despises you? I wouldn't.

But I got off-message for a minute. The issue is predominantly "should gays get equal marriage rights under the law?" The answer is yes.

Anji:

druscilla; in rags:

Anji:

druscilla; in rags:

dirtyhippie:

Religion doesn't even need to enter into the equation.

It doesn't, but unfortunately it's been forced into the mix.
The only reason people think same-sex marriages should be illegal is because of religion.
There is no legal reason.

Maybe for a marriage liscence it makes no sense, but for a wedding in a church it makes all the sense. If you're gay and want to have a wedding, find the right religion before you badger the wrong one. That's why most Christians disapprove.

I'm a Christian. I'm not going to change religions because I'm gay.
I'm going to get married in a Christian church that isn't full of hypo-Christians and actually believes in what Jesus said instead of just picking and choosing what parts of the Bible to follow.
I wouldn't want to get married in a church like that anyway, gay or straight.
And my fiance isn't even Christian, but she's marrying me in a church.

You can't tell all other Christian churches as a whole to give up what they believe is right.

The fact still remains that homosexuality is a sin in Christianity. You're right. You're a bad Christian. Infact you go so far as to say you only believe in God but not obey him. Or at least in this sense anyway. There are churches which allow same sex marriages, that however doesn't mean that they're right. However pleanty of other religions really do not see homosexuality as a problem, and those seem like less contradictory religions for gay people rather than something like Christianity.

When I say marriage, I'm strictly speaking of unions in the prescence of God. Not the piece of paper.

Yes, and I also don't sell my daughter into slavery and I eat bacon.
Bad Christian, not "bad Christian". I define my religion as Bad Christianity. With a capital B, as in proper noun. Thank you.
And I'm not telling churches that they should be forced to perform same-sex marriages. I don't think they should.
But marriage is not a strictly religious ceremony and religions need to keep their mouth out of legality and the government.

druscilla; in rags:

But marriage is not a strictly religious ceremony and religions need to keep their mouth out of legality and the government.

Here, it is.
If you're married in Church its a marriage.
If you're married at the registry office its a civil union, but people call them marriages anyway, because we're too old fashioned. The only difference is, gay people can get 'married' only at the registry office, along with all other couples who have a non-christian service.

Our state religion is the Church of England. Gay couples and straight ones have the same legal, moral and social rights. It coexists with harmony.

I don't see a flaw at all in the British system, but whenever I bring it up, it gets ignored. Like we're some little island in the north sea who drink inordinate amounts of tea and cucumber sandwiches and whatnot and are totally insignificant to the rest of the world.

druscilla; in rags:

But marriage is not a strictly religious ceremony and religions need to keep their mouth out of legality and the government.

No, it isn't the churches responsibility to govern the nation and determine the legality of things. That's the governments job and they aren't doing it. The churches have freedom of speech, they can bitch,complain and protest whatever they want. If they think the church should have a say in the government they have the right to express that; what they say doesn't mean anything anyways. The government should never have allowed any ties to religious marriage to become linked to the government to begin with. Basically, right now you recieve religious benifits for practicing a certain religion and that violates the seperation of church and state.

Now, someone, for the ~ten millionth~ time is going to say "but there isn't any religious involvement in getting married in a courthouse." There is all kinds of religion in a courthouse. During trials, when you swear to tell the "whole truth and nothing but the truth" what do you swear on? Oh, right, a bible. I'd say that's a pretty religious book. And if you don't use the bible, it is required that you affirm your oath on some other book. You can't erase the ties religion has to our government right now. I believe in a seperation of church and state, and in more ways than one we don't have that right now.

i was reading this and one of the first things i saw was something about them not being able to get married in a church cuz its against god.

one question.....

why?

doesn' t god love everyone? when you were young, did you learn [in church or from songs] that god loves everyone? its so obvious. its funny how i don't believe in god and i figured this out. im all for homosexual marriage. i really think that if god was a real person, that he wouldn't care and he would still love you. yea sure people say that being homosexual is a sin, but even then, doesn't god always forgive?

seriously folks, think about that.

Kurtni:

druscilla; in rags:

But marriage is not a strictly religious ceremony and religions need to keep their mouth out of legality and the government.

The churches have freedom of speech, they can bitch,complain and protest whatever they want. If they think the church should have a say in the government they have the right to express that; what they say doesn't mean anything anyways.

If churches stick their nose in politics, they should lose their tax exempt status.

nimrodrockstar:

i was reading this and one of the first things i saw was something about them not being able to get married in a church cuz its against god.

one question.....

why?

doesn' t god love everyone? when you were young, did you learn [in church or from songs] that god loves everyone? its so obvious. its funny how i don't believe in god and i figured this out. im all for homosexual marriage. i really think that if god was a real person, that he wouldn't care and he would still love you. yea sure people say that being homosexual is a sin, but even then, doesn't god always forgive?

seriously folks, think about that.

God does love everyone. o_o You know its just that in that Bible it says that God said that the ACT of homosexuality was bad. People like to say that since the Bible was God INSPIRED and MAN written, that some guys who were homophobic just wrote that in there. The Bible also says that if there was ever anything taken out of the text or put in that it was a sin or something. :/

druscilla; in rags:

Kurtni:

druscilla; in rags:

But marriage is not a strictly religious ceremony and religions need to keep their mouth out of legality and the government.

The churches have freedom of speech, they can bitch,complain and protest whatever they want. If they think the church should have a say in the government they have the right to express that; what they say doesn't mean anything anyways.

If churches stick their nose in politics, they should lose their tax exempt status.

They shouldn't have the tax exemption in the first place.
But regardless, they still have the right to express their opinions; just like you have the right to disagree with them.

Sheepo@_@:

nimrodrockstar:

i was reading this and one of the first things i saw was something about them not being able to get married in a church cuz its against god.

one question.....

why?

doesn' t god love everyone? when you were young, did you learn [in church or from songs] that god loves everyone? its so obvious. its funny how i don't believe in god and i figured this out. im all for homosexual marriage. i really think that if god was a real person, that he wouldn't care and he would still love you. yea sure people say that being homosexual is a sin, but even then, doesn't god always forgive?

seriously folks, think about that.

God does love everyone. o_o You know its just that in that Bible it says that God said that the ACT of homosexuality was bad. People like to say that since the Bible was God INSPIRED and MAN written, that some guys who were homophobic just wrote that in there. The Bible also says that if there was ever anything taken out of the text or put in that it was a sin or something. :/

god didn't handwrite the bible and neither did jesus so you nobody has any idea what they were thinking[i still think the bible was made up by some random people who just wanted to change the world and succeded.]

idk

i really dont want to argue

its like saying "omg ur white i hate you"
like racist for orientations

i still think its funneh that people are worrying so much about taking away rights of homosexuals that we're not paying attention to anything else in the world...