so many things i wanted to mention have already been said; so im down to the bare bones of what is remaining (such as the benefits of marriage that clitnhawk mentioned and the legal rights involved).
i respect that while i personally don’t share the viewpoint of the op and commend you for raising such a topic at this time as im sure there are others out there that share similar beliefs?
my greatest concern in the ops opening statement was regarding the bible. i consider myself a religious woman but certainly don’t use my religion as a tool in which i feel i have higher authority to dictate how people live their life? and i certainly wouldn’t want my choice of religion to stop others from living their life in a way they are comfortable with and limit their civil freedoms/segregate them from society, prevent them from having love in their life and or have me lose my ability to be compassionate for people as individuals. ignorance breeds hate and religion/its origins weren’t intended to be interpreted hatefully? nor divide humanity? if anything; quite the opposite.
clitnhawks mention of death and inheritance really struck home with me as it is something i have personally witnessed in knowing a couple who had been together 30+ years, when one of them sadly passed away and had to watch as the deceased’s family made all of the funeral arrangements (with no knowledge of the deceased’s wishes - and their choices of arrangements insulting to those that loved and intimately knew them), inherited all of their belongings and finances/life insurance; and left their grieving partner homeless and without a single possession that they had both worked together for; simply due to a marriage certificate being unable to be legally in place. it was absolutely heart wrenching to witness and i wouldn’t wish that experience upon my worst enemy, let alone two men whom loved each other dearly and spent their adult lives building theirs together.
i also fail to see how that if something doesn’t directly affect you or your lifestyle; how one can hold such deep opinions on how that life is lived? we humans are very opinionated, sure; while im perfectly fine with everyone voicing theirs, should we expect that everyone agrees with our own and or adopt our beliefs as we see fit and are comfortable with? no. we can dig deep into this issue and look for all of the negatives involved or simply smile that this one decision will allow so many people to now live in peace, happiness and with the respect they deserve as individuals, as intended from the day (they like everyone) was born. live and let live.
...kytnism...