(May 26, 2011 at 7:19 pm)Statler Waldorf Wrote: I have never understood why atheism is so closely tied to political liberalism. You call this progress, but progress towards what? Progress alone means nothing.I'm not a liberal, I'm a libertarian. Not exactly conservative, but not exactly liberal either (generally a bit of both). It's progress towards things being defined by common sense and fairness rather than by tradition. Tradition says marriage should be between a man and a woman, but if marriage is going to get perks from governments, then it should be open to all citizens who love each other, and that includes gay people.
That said, I'm not generally "for" marriage of any kind. I see marriage today as some form of state sponsored union rather than something concerning love. Sure, love plays a big role, but I don't see why the government has to get involved in the first place. I'd much rather prefer that the government stayed out of the marriage business, and allowed marriage to go back to what it is supposed to be: a union of two people in love, celebrated by close friends and family.
This could also solve the whole problem with churches being forced to perform gay marriages. If the government didn't try to control what marriage is and isn't, then that decision is ultimately left up to individual groups of people. Some churches will allow gay people to get married, others won't. Even if all the churches rejected gay marriage, gay people could get married by holding the ceremony themselves; getting all their friends and family together to celebrate their union.
I'm intrigued though, why don't you think this step towards equality (in thinking anyway) is progress?
