quote:
Originally posted by whomod:
How can having the same legal rights as hererosexual couples be considered "special rights"?
I didn't go to your site (I rarely do, old buddy!), WMod, but I will say something that I do with great difficulty.....ahem.....I agree with Whomod!(I need to take a shower now! [wink]

If it is the same right, it isn't a special right.

I agree.

I'd also like to take up the point that J-C ethics shouldn't be used when determining law for the sake of Seperation of Church and State.

While, I agree C/S should be fully seperated (I'll teach my son about Christianity myself, thank you very much!), you can't remove you value systems when deciding what the law should be in a set of circumstances.

Here is my theory: J/C ethics, in some form or another, account for a majority of American's moral code. Because of those teachings, many people have established a particular view of the world. Now, however they came to it, it is how they view the world. Now their views, in a democracy, should not be discounted simply because they are religious in nature. It is the same as if they had used any other philosopher (Aristotle?) to define their views on the issues.

The trick is, "because it says so in the Bible" is not an appropriate justification. But I do believe that "because it is immoral" and "because it undermines the very nature of the definition of marriage" ARE legitimate positions....even if they come DIRECTLY from one's reading of the Bible.

People get their ethics from whatever source they choose. They can't turn it off when it comes time to opine on the most important issues of the day.

I don't view it as a C/S issue at all. I view it as a moral code issue, which is how the laws are always made. I just enjoy that One Degree of Kevin Bacon in there to keep the issue from getting murkey.