Gay marriage

Yes ,but gay marriage is undermined because most people in the world are straight and gay marriage would tarnish the the good name of America."- Two things: 1. It is true that most people in America are straight, but 1.5% label themselves as gay or bisexual. This doesn't sound like much, but that means that approx. 4,300,000 people in America are being denied legal benefits. This is unacceptable. Not to mention that these are only the ones that label themselves. There are many more who are scared or ashamed to because of the reactions of others which I think is so sad that people feel they have to hide who they are in America because they will not be treated right by others and the law. source:http://www.adherents.com... 2. Why does this "tarnish the good name of America"? That is an unsupported assertion. Even if we do legalize gay marriage, that doesn't mean people won't realize that lots of Americans find it wrong. Just because we don't have national health care and I want it doesn't make me feel "the good name of America is tarnished". Not to mention that the "good name of America" is already tarnished. Most countries hate us. We torture and kill people everyday. We had a president who put us in a terrible deficit and we were stupid enough to elect him. We are controlled by businesses who stay rich at the expense of those who are really poor. We have a terrible record of violent and unnecessary imperialism. This is just the beginning. The last thing I would be worried about is "tarnishing the good name of America". It was tarnished long ago. "The bible says that marriage is to be between a man and women, not a man and man or a women and a women."- This is about the worst argument you can use. You know what else the Bible says? To kill your neighbor if he works on the Sabbath, not to cut your hair or you should die, that selling your daughter into slavery is ok, that you need to stone people for swearing, that women are lesser than men, and the list of ridiculous things it says are ok and that you must do. People hardly do or believe a lot of things the Bible says nowadays because it is outdated. There are so many things that were ok back then and considered awful now, and things we do today that they would consider awful back then. Times change and social changes will occur. "legalizing same-sex marriages is that doing so would undermine the institution of marriage." How so? "A marriage between members of the same sex is a self-contradiction, and if their unions are legalized, then marriage itself across the country will be harmed." How so? "Just how much damage could gay unions do, though." What? Why is this an issue? "Either civil law is defined by the needs and rights of citizens and gay marriage will be legalized, or civil laws will be placed under the dominion of religious laws and gay marriage will remain banned."- One of the basic principals America was founded on was "separation of church and state". Making gay marriage illegal for religious reasons violates that principal. Civil law should be made based on the rights and needs of the citizens. "For Christian Nationalists, legalized gay marriage would represent a defeat for their religion in the fight to define the boundaries of American culture and law."- This is irrelevant. Many Christians are pro gay marriage. It doesn't matter what they "feel" it would be. Christianity still would have tremendous control over the people. "Gay marriage furthermore represents a threat to established norms of authority, identity and power. Those who possess that authority and power and who have used them to create their identities are thereby threatened by the prospective changes."- So? The established norms are no always good. Things change and this time I believe it to be for the better because it is about equality. "Marriage is not just an institution, but also a symbol representing our culture's ideals about sex, sexuality, and human relationships. Symbols are important — they are a common cultural currency which we each use to help create our sense of self."- I think something great about America is that we are a melting pot. You can go around the U.S. and find places so radically different and unique from each other that you would think it was another country entirely. There is no symbol that America needs to uphold except that we are united, stand for freedom and justice, and acceptance of all people. This is what legalizing gay marriage would support.