(November 20, 2013 at 7:59 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: Esquilax, I never said that Christians invented marriage. I said that the religious and civil aspects of it had been entangled and it would be preferable to untangle them. How can you promote "separation of church and state" on every issue except this one?
You did say this, though:
Quote:The term marriage would be reserved for private sacramental commitments. For the religious, that is an extra layer of commitment. That approach would give gays equal rights and still preserve the sacred meaning that marriage has for Christians and other believers.
So, in essence, your idea is to take a term that was never yours to begin with, because you and yours attach a religious significance to it, heedless of the fact that those of us who don't still find the word meaningful, and that historically the concept predates most religions.
Separate but equal, even if it works- and I say if because I am sure that the majority religious population would quickly find some way of advantaging marriages over the secular alternative- still separates people into ingroups and outgroups, which is entirely contrary to the overarching point of this marriage debate in the first place, which is not turning gay folk into the Other.
"YOU take the hard look in the mirror. You are everything that is wrong with this world. The only thing important to you, is you." - ronedee
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Want to see more of my writing? Check out my (safe for work!) site, Unprotected Sects!