Same Sex Marriage?

How do you feel about homosexuals getting married?

I personally was raised with Christian values, but I met some truly wonderful gays and lesbians during my Freshman year in High School and it totally changed my way of thinking on this issue. In my opinion, there's no reason to prevent two people who love eachother from being wedded.

Please keep your replies appropriate and consider what you are saying before it is said. Any inappropriate posts will be reported laughed at.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. [:)]

So any posts that convey a thought that may not agree will be reported? Sure how it sounds.

Ya know, I dont really care. I dont agree with homosexuality so I wouldnt obviously agree with them getting married. However, I love the persons no less than anyone else - just the homosexuality.


So really, I just dont care. I dont think that by banning or allowing them to marry changes anything really. If people really want them to change their lifestyles, maybe they should get to know them and show them a different lifestyle. Otherwise, shut up. If you arent willing to actively participate with people you dont like or dont agree with you have no right to have a voice for or against. But the whole thing with the government making these decisions is proposterous.

Its like a little child growing up who wants that cookie from the cookie jar. Wether you tell him yes or no, he still wants the cookie. If you say no, you just give him more determination to get it - however the means. If you say yes, you let him know its ok to have a cookie when its not ok.


Without getting into a whole "its not ok/ its ok" battle - thats how it is. Thats how it is for alot of things. Drugs for instance. Make them illegal, theres more demand. Make them legal, then you make it "ok".


Whether gay or straight, christian or mormon, athiest or agnostic, black or white - maybe if we chose to love people first we would get somewhere. Too much politics and not nearly enough personal involvement.

I have two random thoughts that apply to this that I support:
1) We need to learn how to not argue over differences, including same-sex marriage
2) Tolerance has to start somewhere.

As you can probably guess from the above, I'm all for it. I have a few friends who are gay, and they're good people and in some cases, uberly smart nerds . But anyways, I don't see why there's a huge debate about it. Ignoring all other factors (like the bible etc.), there doesn't seem to be much against it.

"But the whole thing with the government making these decisions is proposterous."
^ I COMPLETELY agree with that - and I can apply to to a whole bunch of other things too, but I agree that the govt shouldn't be able to make laws about this sort of stuff.

Originally posted by Myriad

Any inappropriate posts will be reported.

Ummm ... yeah ... good luck with all that.

Anyway, as the Pastor of a church you will not find me performing ANY "civil" unions -- ever. So, there you go ... enough said from me.

I dont think Tolerance has to start anywhere. Tolerance means acceptance. Acceptance means you dont stand for anything. If I accept everything and tolerate everything, I stand for nothing.

That is one of the diseases spreading through this country right now. People dont want to offend anyone so they dont ever develop stances on anything. Everything is just a-ok with them.


However, dont ever confuse love and tolerance. They are completely different.

Nice edit there Myriad

to the change, myriad ... hahaha

Real: What we accept, our children will not only embrace, but they will take to excess. Something to consider when mentioning the word, tolerance.

[jayman]

i agree with you. there really isnt any reason to "ban gay marriage" in fact 2 of the longest running "marriages" i know of are between gay men. and i don't really know alot of gay people, or maybe i do. but people shouldn't get married just because they love each other. there's alot of other factors too, but that's besides the point.
i just honestly don't see any reason why not..i can think of flimsy ones, that we hear from time to time in some way or other, like.. "err..(taps table and crumples paper) it'll lead to.... bigamy and ....beastiality(ie marry a duck)" or because the bible says it's wrong, which ,if you believe in the bible is a VERY valid reason for being against it, but since this is a secular nation can have no bearing over legislature preventing it, and the basic redneck "hell no, don't give them gays no more rights.." edit dang.. in the time it took me to post this i got beat like three times!!!!
and then there's going to be people for whom these are the real reasons for being against it, but try to convince everyone that they have "real scientific and statistical reasearch" which most of the time is ambigiuos.
really i can see no reason to not let these people get married.., they deserve to be with someone they care about, and to be responsible for and accountable to. i'm straight, i can't say that it would be any different in those ways,because i don't know, in that respect a gay person couldn't say the same about me.
it just doesn't make sense to me why not. wether or not it's a "civil rights issue" in accordance with what this country has dealt with so far, is a concept that i sometimes have a hard time wrapping my head around.
now , i would have a problem if a church was REQUIRED by law to perform marriages they didn't believe in. that is a right that is is granted in the condstitution, (on the other hand i'm not sure where tax except status falls into play here, and it would have to be on the up and up ) .. but anyone willing to perform that ceremony should be legaly allowed to do so, and it shouldn't matter to the law one bit..

Originally posted by Real

People dont want to offend anyone so they dont ever develop stances on anything.

Tolerance and the increase of such frivilous behavior, along with complacency, have allowed us to slowly have more and more restrictions placed upon us by our government, but I won't go into that. Take a stance. Have a voice. And if someone even dares to think differently than you, KILL 'EM! That's one less person to drive one less gas-guzzling S.U.V. (Stupid Useless Vehicle) and hence, it'll make the price of gas .00000001% cheaper! Think about that for a minute, it makes perfect sense... [:p]

[Coasterkidmwm]

Originally posted by TConwell
Ummm ... yeah ... good luck with all that.

Anyway, as the Pastor of a church you will not find me performing ANY "civil" unions -- ever. So, there you go ... enough said from me.

Don't be hatin'

[Brtnboarder495]

No one chooses to be gay, so would you want to be born and not allowed to live life to anyone else? Of course not, just like how blacks were discriminated against, and soon after were accepted, you will see the same thing happen with muslims and gays. There are certainly more gay people out there than just 10%, sexuality is not straight, gay and bi. Everyone has a certain percentage in which they interest in the two sexes, some guys lean towards girls (>~75%girls, <~25%guys), some guys lean towards guys (<~25%girls, >~75% guys) and then some guys lean towards both (<~50%girls, ~ 50%guys). Of course those are just numbers, there all other sorts of factors like homophobic families that force their children to live straight lives and therefore live unhappy lives ... forever.

Ahh, welcome to America, the most homophobic and stuckup country in the world!

how can you be born gay? honestly, thats like saying, "you were born to be rich and famous"...its just somethnig that happens.

I don't care, as long as two gay guys don't make out if front of me. Lesbians are pretty nice though.

[coolbeans326]

well, I'll put it this way. Will a gay person's marriage to another man affect your life? No, so it's like it doesn't really matter to me. If it happens, yay! If it doesn't. Who cares. To me it's a really insignificant matter of life to me. What one person does, whether its against God's law or not, is not a reflection on my life, and so long as they are not hurting anyone, its fine by me.
As for getting married in a church. Well, I think that if they do legalize gay marriage, it should be at the discretion of the church to allow the same sex couple to be married. Obviously if they claim to be Christian, and wed them I would have a problem with that simply because that's not the teaching, and if you through out one teaching to fit a lifestyle you got to through them all out. But say if a man wants to get married by the state or some other religion that supports gay people, then sure w/e.
That's basically my opinion about that.

Why in the hell is this topic even on here. I thought this was for coasters and the like? In our church(methodist) the conference is gong to vote on whether or not to allow gay and lesbian members/clergy. If you follow and swear by the bible than there is no reason for this crap, it is wrong!!! You are not born gay it is a choice, your upbringing has a lot to do with it. It is not political it is moral. this world is based on mom and dad recreating life to keep it going. We might as well give up on Hussein and Bin Laden types if we are gonna ok homos and dykes!!!It is all the same. They are gonna kill of the rest of the world with their indecency towards life. Sorry if this offends, but that is my personal opinion.........

Originally posted by Myriad

Originally posted by Real

People dont want to offend anyone so they dont ever develop stances on anything.

Tolerance and the increase of such frivilous behavior, along with complacency, have allowed us to slowly have more and more restrictions placed upon us by our government, but I won't go into that. Take a stance. Have a voice. And if someone even dares to think differently than you, KILL 'EM! That's one less person to drive one less gas-guzzling S.U.V. (Stupid Useless Vehicle) and hence, it'll make the price of gas .00000001% cheaper! Think about that for a minute, it makes perfect sense... [:p]

lol the first part made sense. The second part - not so much.

Ive got a gay friend and hes sweet. Hes a really great guy and fun to hang out with. Do I still think the lifestyle he follows is wrong? Yes. Do I love him any less? No.


Btw, this will probably divert the topic but I also have to ask, how can you be born gay? I know theyve tried to nail it to genetics but that failed - not definitive enough. Cause I do agree with the analogy that coolbeans laid down...the same one I thought of. You can be born into a rich family, but it doesnt make you rich - just your family (IE parents). I was born into a well off family (not quite rich) but it didnt make me rich. Especially when your father, like mine, is a complete possession whore (everything is his his his) and you dont feel like anything in the house is even allowed to be touched by you. So I wasnt well off, my parents were. I just got blessed by it for a short time.


Quite honestly, aside from medical conditions that prohibit you from functioning and thinking clearly, it is my opinion that there is NO lifestyle that cannot be changed. Some are tougher than others - yes. But not impossible.



However, start a new topic to talk about that.

What are your feelings on Same Sex Marriage?

Real and eddie, I have to dissagree with both of you on the issue of choice. I'm sure that most gay people, if given the choice, would rather be straight and not have to deal with all of the discrimination gay people face every day.
I am straight but I have never seen anything wrong with being gay, and I think they have just as much of a right to get married as anyone else. Also, Real, it makes perfect sense to be born gay, and there are plenty of people who just go into denial and live lives that they aren't happy with at all while trying to "fit in" and be straight. Surely you don't think someone would make the choice later in life to divorce their wife, and embarass their children just as a choice to start being gay.
David Cross put this choice issue really well (and in a funny way) on one of his cd's. I'll try to find it and post it here.

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

Don't be hatin'

I'm not even remotely hating buttcrack lint, I am just taking a stand to state a complete and undeniable fact without leaving room for any doubt. I too have friends who are gay and are welcome at my dinner table with my family at any time (and they know this because they are my friends) ... but as far as my performing any kind of ceremony for them, there is no room for "allowances" (to which they know as well) based on not only my beliefs, but to the doctrine which I have taken a vow to uphold.

So the topic infiltrates the coaster boards, too.
As for those who think "gay is a choice" and not genetically encoded, I say "tell me the day you chose to be straight". You feel naturally attracted to the opposite sex, you didn't choose those feelings, they were just THERE. For gays, it is the same way. The only "choice" is whether or not to accept what you are and live that way.

I have a very good friend who is a retired Navy captain. Spent 30yrs in the Navy, flew fighter jets (F-18s), commanded a carrier, a boot camp, and is now an executive director of a large non-profit organization. He has been married for 40 years.
He is gay.
Because of society's views of gays back in the 60's, he denied it to himself. He got married, he joined the military, he focused on those two things with a fervor that got him a high rank and a lot of respect. But he is STILL gay. Now that he's out of the military, society is more tolerant, and his kids are grown, he's feeling trapped. He's also fallen in love with a man, even though he knew it would make things worse for him.
He is now facing the very real dilemma of ending a marriage of 40 yrs, hurting the woman who has been by his side for four decades, and risking alienating his kids... to be the man he was meant to be.

The longer society shuns gays and treats them as second-class citizens, the more stories like this there will be. It's not good for him, his wife, his kids, or his new lover. Somebody (maybe everybody) will be hurt before this is over.

Well I found it, hopefully this doesn't start more arguments. Also minicoopertx, thats a really good example of what I was trying to say before.


"There's no 16 year old heterosexual boy, confused, socially akward, you know, acne scarred kid, sittin' around in his bedroom going: God, everyone hates me, and, the girls that I like don't like me, and, I don't know what to do. And the thought of having sex with another man is phisically repelling to me. But ya know? Maybe it's time I invited even more non-stop harassment into my life. Yeh that'll be fun, things have been going so easy, why don't I just introduce the concept of gettin' the sh*t kicked out of me but a bunch of f**kin' retards. Yeh that's a fun choice to make, that's a choice a lot of people are making."
-David Cross

"The longer society shuns gays and treats them as second-class citizens, the more stories like this there will be. It's not good for him, his wife, his kids, or his new lover. Somebody (maybe everybody) will be hurt before this is over."

Pressure is definitely a big part of it - pressure is a part of society, especially ours. But a case like that is wow...I mean that guy will have to live life either a) feeling trapped as you mentioned, or b) under lots more pressure. And people shouldn't have to feel pressure simply because of what society they live under.
And I also agree that being gay isn't necessarily a choice - it's a natural instinct, so to speak. Very good question you posed up there, "when did you become straight." I would want to ask my friend "how did you become gay?" but then I suppose both of us wouldn't feel...confident and okay to speak about it; pressure from society would be in our heads and we'd be very uncomfortable talking about it...

I don't know whether or not I agree with it, but I definately think it should not be banned. Gay marriage being baned is almsot like a violation of free speech and the reason for the ban, I think, is clearly based on religion and that seems to force a certain way of life on people which is just wrong. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and own choices, leave them alone and let them be.

Originally posted by minicoopertx

So the topic infiltrates the coaster boards, too.
As for those who think "gay is a choice" and not genetically encoded, I say "tell me the day you chose to be straight".

Sometime around wintertime during 7th grade. I wouldnt say I was too attracted to girls at that stage but I also was going through a fairly difficult time in my life and was not sure. Alot of it was lack of parenting influence at home coupled with alot of very negative and demeaning actions from other kids thrown at me.

So, you wanted an answer, you got it.

[jayman]

well... i remember jr high.. just when aids was new..and i wasn't exactly the normalest of kids.. be glad your name isn't jay..

Why? It does have good ryhming capabilities...

I could go down to the bay...maybe eat some hay. What do ya say? I just may...are you gay? Gay jay? lol


Trust me. you dont need any sort of name to be the brunt of anyones fun. And this isnt a sob story. Dont feel bad for me. Obviously it did have a positive effect on who I became later on.

[jayman]

i know...