Gay Marriage: Pro or Anti?

[memphis]

I cannot support gay marriage as marriage has been the same for time immemorial.

King Solomon and his 700 wives disagree.

[memphis]

I've lived through the divorce of my parents, and I don't know if there's a much worse non-abusive thing you can do to a child.

Coming from the personal experience of my parents' ugly relationship, I can tell you there is something far worse for children than divorce. Living in a home where two parents are constantly at each others throats, spitting venom day after day, is toxic. I can still remember that blissful April day in 1993 when my dad moved to his own little house about a mile away. Close enough that I could walk between homes, but far enough apart to ensure some peace for all parties. All became right in the world. It is without a doubt one of the best moments of my childhood.

[memphis]

I cannot support gay marriage as marriage has been the same for time immemorial.

King Solomon and his 700 wives disagree.

Yeah well he was just a bad apple.

Bad apple who's traditionally held to have written at least a couple books of the Bible, including the part known for its sage advice on managing one's life.

That may be, but he certainly didn't pursue proper standards by marrying 700 women.

He's far from a unique case. Polygamy was rife throughout the Bible. And it wasn't held up as a model of immorality that God would strike you down for. It just was the way things were. Marriage has changed immeasurably since the days when a raped women was forced to marry her rapist because nobody else would then want her and she obviously couldn't take care of herself. Your point that marriage has never changed is 100% false.

[memphis]

There is no secular argument of substance against legalizing gay marriage. Even if I didn't have my own personal reasons for supporting it, there is no way I could be opposed. Of course I am in favor.

Actually, I have a secular argument against gay marriage.  I don't think that we should deny homosexuals equal benefits, which is why I support civil unions, but I believe you can give them equal rights without redefining an institution that for thousands of years and in just about every culture has been defined as between a man and a woman.  For me, it's not a civil rights issue, it's a language issue.  Give them the rights, but don't call it "marriage."

Historically, marriage was between a man and as many women as he could collect. Are you now pro polygamy? Because that's the historical tradition. And the Biblical one as well.