Gay Marriage

I've debated this issue several times here on DDO and I'm glad to have the opportunity to do so again. Now before I actually get into this debate, I want to frame out the Con's stance and plan of action. First, I will provide some observations regarding the resolution, Second I will present the Con stance, third I will negate the Pro's arguments, and finally with whatever remaining time I have- I will state some brief closing thoughts. So first for some observations on this topic: First there is a burden on both the Pro and the Con that must be met in order to win this debate. The Pro must prove; be it by empirical evidence or solid logic that either Same Sex marriage is a good thing, or there is no harm in it. The Con's is accordingly the stark in opposition; I must prove either that Same Sex marriage is detrimental, or that there is harm in it. So with that said, I will do just that. Now of course in the sum time of an 8,000 character debate I am not going to have time to advocate this on too many levels, so in order to do it justice I will present the Con on only one level. Same Sex marriage by individuals impedes on the religious freedoms of other. Now what could I possibly mean by that? How could the marriage of two homosexuals impede on the religious rights of others? Simple, the fact is that there is a stark differentiation between a marriage and a Civil Union. You see as far back as we can trace in our american culture, Marriage is a religious practice in the Judeo-Christian society, meaning that Marriage is something belonging to those of an abrahamic faith (Christians, Jews, and Muslims) so by taking this term which is important to these people and giving it to people of a lifestyle in which these religion's doctrines disagree, you therefore impose and impede on the rights of these other people. So what this means is that if there is any alternative to this (Not that I support homosexuality or Civil Unions) it must be Civil Unions. While the religious crowds will still disagree with it, it would no longer impede on their rights. With that said, I will content to move to my opponent's arguments. Now reviewing what my opponent has said, he admits that the entirety of his last speech is all his own opinions. And while I disagree with his latter statements, that his opinions don't matter much; he has little in the way of warranting his claims. you see there are three manner of arguments, Ethos (an appeal to ethics) Pathos (and appeal to emotions) and Logos (An appeal to logic). Well we see here that my opponent has neither Ethos or Logos, and their Pathos is not being used to further their claim but simply to express their stance. If we want to keep this debate a debate, then we must not count this as good enough. Going into a debate nothing can be a given, but instead everything needs to be proven and explained! and so finally I close with this, My opponent's burden of proving the topic true as thus far not been achieved. we can see no reason in the realm of this debate to vote that Same Sex Marriage is either Good/Positive. However we do understand that on the inverse the Same Sex Marriage is bad because it limits and imposes the rights of religious communities. Since there still two more rounds left, and I feel that this is the area I want to focus my clash, with this I hand the debate back over to my opponent.