Extending the legal and civil rights and responsibilities to all Americans is really a non-issue. If you do not agree with same-sex marriage, don’t marry someone of the same sex! As a school teacher, I don’t ever recall reading/citing the words…”with liberty and justice for ALL” and seeing the word, “except” anywhere. Separate but equal has proven it does not, has not, and should not work! We can not “eenie meenie miney moe” through our neighborhoods and point to who is allowed marriage or not. For those who attempt to use the Bible to justify preventing same-gender marriage I caution you. Many read the Bible more literally, others more metaphorically (or more emphasis on legalism rather than love), and both should be respected. We however need to take cultural, as well as historical, perspectives into consideration when reading the Bible. It is almost 2012 and we still do not know much about the gay gene/community/culture. Two thousand years ago we lived in complete oblivian on the subject. When you were found to be gay you were simply thrown in a brothel – no questions asked. While in a brothel your choices were limited. You slept with many and all and were labeled because of it. A great informative book on being gay and the Bible is here http://www.cebiaz.com/book.pdf for you to read at your leisure. As far as our constitution; yes our country was founded on Christianity – and the type of Christianity that possibly at the time did not include all families (I’m quite positive there were both gay and straight in attendance), however many would argue it was also found on slavery and without woman’s rights. We are a Nation however continually moving in the direction of justice and equality!
Lastly, if we want “traditional” marriage we must be careful using the Bible as a reference. I will not get into the whole “Adam and Eve” theory as it was not about “marriage”, it was about companionship (I am speaking about a civil license). In Biblical days men had multiple wives and usually treated them as property and baby bearers only. Lot had sex with his daughters (or vice verse but irrelevant for the point). We cannot use the Bible (or certain parts of it that are convenient) to set our moral compass with regards to one’s orientation, intimacy, or just certain relationships. As a Christian and American, I am for equality, love, and acceptance for all human life. God bless, see you in heaven.
JasonjDOTbiz 