Soteria said ...
Mel, I am ANNOYED because the gay lobby is mobilizing to FORCE people to accept their lifestyle choices and that is not right. I can respect you as a human being, honor you as a person and not agree with the choices that you make. The lobby would have us believe that if you aren't waving a rainbow flag saying yes Steve and Bob should get married, that- somehow you are a bigot. That is what I have a significant problem with. What exactly did I say that made you feel that I hate someone?Mel, maybe you can cite for me exactly what in a civil union is different than in marriage, because all of the information that I have seen puts it as having the same rights. Correct me if I am wrong and guide me to that info...
I find it hilarious that the pro- gay lobby's fall back is constantly the dissoluntion of heterosexual marriages. What exactly is your point with that? Obviously every heterosexual has not engaged in premarital sex, infidelity, and divorce...similarly every homosexual person is not out whoring on a nightly basis sleeping with random people.
My point is and remains - God defined marriage and it is defined as that between a man and a woman. It is, what it is. No one is saying that they cannot love whoever they want. What is with the urgency of the title other than to get everyone else to accept their choices?
Casper, in response to your comments I personally do not feel that the majority of people who are gay are born that way. That again is based on my own interaction and conversations with people who are "gay". A lot of them have decided that it was a lifestyle choice that they enjoyed and they went that direction. I have however, met people who have said that they were that way from a child so I do believe that some are born that way. God does not love them less. Just like God loves us all regardless of what we do as well, however we are called to walk in a certain fashion in order to receive the blessings of God in our lives. God does not need your belief in order for truth to be truth. Truth just is.
3 comments:
Soteria -
I say "Love. Not Hate" in reference to the hateful nature of Prop 8 - Not assigning hateful tendencies to you personally.
As to the difference between marriage and domestic partnerships or civil unions....there is a veritable plethora of information out there, if you wish to seek truth.
You'll find such differences as: "Taxes. Couples in a civil union may file a joint state tax return, but they must file federal tax returns as single persons. This may be advantageous to some couples, not so for others. One advantage for married couples is the ability to transfer assets and wealth without incurring tax penalties. Partners in a civil union aren't permitted to do that, and thus may be liable for estate and gift taxes on such transfers.
Health insurance. The state-federal divide is even more complicated in this arena. In the wake of the Massachusetts high court ruling, the group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders put together a guide to spousal health care benefits. GLAD’s document is Massachusetts-specific but provides insight into how health insurance laws would apply to those in a civil union in other states. In general, GLAD says, it comes down to what’s governed by state law and what’s subject to federal oversight. If a private employer’s health plans are subject to Massachusetts state insurance laws, benefits must be extended to a same-sex spouse. If the health plan is governed by federal law, the employer can choose whether or not to extend such benefits.
Social Security survivor benefits. If a spouse or divorced spouse dies, the survivor may have a right to Social Security payments based on the earnings of the married couple, rather than only the survivor’s earnings. Same-sex couples are not eligible for such benefits.
Other federal areas in which couples in civil unions don't have the same rights as married couples include immigration (a partner who's a foreign national can't become an American by entering into a civil union with someone) and veterans' and military benefits (only opposite-sex spouses have a right to pensions, compensation for service-related deaths, medical care, housing and the right to burial in veterans’ cemeteries). Gay couples, however, may actually benefit when applying for programs such as Medicaid or government housing that require low-income eligibility. A spouse’s income is included in such applications, but a same-sex partner’s income is not. One change has been made in federal law: A provision in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows same-sex couples to transfer 401(k) and IRA earnings to partners without penalty.
Mel,
Thanks for sharing that. Some of that I was unaware of. I can respect indviduals who are sharing their lives together wanting to be able to share their assets, medical benefits etc. Again if the goal is to achieve these things they should indeed continue to lobby for those things. I am sure that they would be very successful.
I call into question why there is a specific need to use the term "marriage" if it is really about access to benefits?
I am glad I live in Canada first of all. Getting married to my wife (and I am a feel) was a wonderful decision. The wedding was a joyous ceremony and I was pleased with the outcome, showing heterosexual people who attended that we are just two human beings madly in love. In university, I was always the one defending gay people in class discussions and often left crying because people did not agree to it..thought it was wrong and dirty. Well, I know it is not. I know that gay men and women have contributed to society, have been tortured in history, have as much diversity as any other group and that for some, it is a lifestyle choice but for others like me who have always loved women and have never been with a man, it is something that was a part of me long before I even knew what the word HOMOSEXUAL was.
Yes you can believe what you want now, but if you ever had a gay or lesbian child, you will see it is not a lifestyle choice. It is not how you raised him.
We have kids and they are proud, and live normal lives playing hockey, going to sleepovers etc. Nobody bats an eye at us being married lesbian parents, and I think that heterosexual people like yourself should see that it does not matter what you think of us or putting us down, it does not stop us from waking up and loving our married wives and husbands.
In other countries who do not have marriage laws, I hope that things change soon because it is a shame to put laws on love.
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