express when religious positions are stated. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?a\\... I do not contend that a faith based argument is sufficient to argue against same sex marriage (I do not argue in support of marriage from that position) however what same sex activists seek to do is silence all argument on the matter other than their own. rob1966 : 30 May 2011 3:06:30pm I think you are misrepresenting Waldron somewhat; his point is that some secularists have difficulty comprehending why "the religious" don't just accept the secularists point of view; not that debate is trying to be silenced. If anyone is trying to silence debate it is the religious, with their "god says marriage is between a man and a woman, end of" - even to the point of threatening to withdraw support from Labor; thus Gillard is not even willing to mention same-sex mariage, let alone debate it. You may believe that God has an opinion on marriage, but that is peculiar to your religion - and you do not have the right to impose your view on everyone else in society. I suspect you would not take kindly if Muslims and Jews wanted to impose a ban on the eating of pork and pork products on everyone; so why should your religious perspective of marriage be imposed on others? Introducing same-sex marriage into what is a civil arena (marriage is a civil matter, not religious, in this country) will not impact you; but withholding it from some people does affect them.