Same-sex Marriages

Hm..why is polygamy illegal indeed? As a devout Mormon, I'm really upset about that. That was a joke, of course. Though I am an active Mormon, you seem to me to be intelligent enough to know that they no longer practice polygamy (I will refrain from a large tangent here, but I am willing to debate and defend the practice of polygamy by Latter Day Saints to anyone who would challenge me). But to return to the question, why is it illegal? After a bit of research, I really couldn't find any conclusive reasoning as to why it was originally declared illegal--long before the Mormons. However, as you yourself said, our society has been built upon--and, if I may elaborate to say our nation was founded upon--Judeo-Christian values. One can not deny that some of the laws set in place at the founding of our nation are in conflict with what we believe today, such as slavery and voting rights. It would not be a stretch to say that marriage was defined in our nation as being between one man and one woman because of a predominantly Christian society. In short, polygamy could take the same argument of beliefs being imposed on others. Beastiality is illegal because it is defined as animal abuse. As for stealing, murder, etcetera, these are illegal because they infringe upon one's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the unalienable rights so prominent in our nation's founding. Child pornography as well, as having children being subjected to something such as that is something than can and often does leave serious emotional scars--I know people who dealt with sexual abuse as children, and it was something that created significant psychological issues for them. Also, for considering laws that seem based on moral ideas, let's take a look at Divine Command Theory, the idea that God gives us morally right and wrong instructions. Principled Divine Command Theory suggests that things are not good or bad because God says they are right or wrong (which is, alternatively, Fiat Divine Command), but that God says things are right are wrong based on whether or not they are good or bad. As such, laws are often similar or the same as religious ideals because many of those ideals are simply good, not necessarily because they are religious in nature. However, this is not excuse for saying that because God commanded it, it is good, and thus it should be law. Because didn't He command that we should have no other gods, or keep the sabbath holy? Yet these are commandments that do not find their way into the legal system because there is no reason to believe, outside of faith, that not following them will lead to harm of oneself or others. Similarly, same-sex marriages, though morally wrong in God's eyes, should not receive the same negative view on a civil level. Now, for altering the standard. Yes, it is indeed true that homosexual marriages are different from what has been the norm for thousands of years. First, though, homosexuality was indeed practiced by older civilizations; it is far from something that has sprung up in the last century or two. For the Greeks and Romans, for example, homosexual relations were not uncommon in the least. The significance that we in our modern societies place on the genders of those involved in relations was not something that existed back then; rather, focus of that degree was more directed to the social classes of those involved, as well as a few other explicit details not needed to be mentioned. Second, though, and more importantly, I see no actual problem with changing a set of standards, regardless of how widespread or long lasting. Indeed, it is something that has been done in our own nation multiple times before--equal rights for women, for example, or the abolishment of slavery, or making torture (cruel and unusual punishment) illegal. As for same-sex married couples adopting children, I don't see how this is any different from same-sex non-married couples adopting children, something which is legal and practiced. Yes, there are potential problems, but there always will be when trying to just find a new home for someone, regardless of the sexual orientation of the adopting parents.