[Alberta's Child]

But when the smoke all clears, things just wouldn't be that much different than they are now except it will be more fair and free here and the ever vocal gay rights movement will eventually run out of things to gripe about and most of them will just go home.

If you really believe that, then you are terribly naive. That's why I used the parallel example of the modern "civil rights" movement. Minorities in this country have very little to complain about, but that doesn't prevent a number of them from creating an entire industry out of filing idiotic lawsuits, pursuing grievances where none exist, etc.

You probably believe that allowing gay marriage would just be a first step into much worse moral depravity in our society.

If you go back through my posts on this thread, you'll notice that I didn't make a single statement of moral judgement on any of them. The argument against gay marriage can stand up on legal and practical grounds without ever making a statement about public morality.

The reality is that aside from any moral issues that people might feel are at stake, homosexual conduct is inherently "disordered" in nature. This is why, for example, homosexuals in general (men in particular) have a higher incidence of almost any physical or psychiatric pathology that you can think of (drug abuse, alcoholism, most contagious diseases, etc.). That's not a value judgement -- that's a statement of fact.

The response to this kind of situation is not to "shove them in a closet," so to speak -- but nor is it appropriate to pretend that there is anything normal about it. The person who picks a drug addict up off the street, takes him home and gives him a warm meal and a place to sleep, and then returns him back to his place on the street is not doing him any favors -- in fact, he is enabling the drug addict to continue on a very destructive path.

[scripter]

That's not a value judgement -- that's a statement of fact.

It is indeed a fact. While I can understand the hesitation to take away any freedoms, somethings, such as a behavior that results in such severe health hazards, behavior that results in a contagious deadly disease should not be recognized as valid, encouraged or given any form of protection.

The person who picks a drug addict up off the street, takes him home and gives him a warm meal and a place to sleep, and then returns him back to his place on the street is not doing him any favors -- in fact, he is enabling the drug addict to continue on a very destructive path.

That's it, exactly. A true friend, once they know better, will not encourage or enable destructive behavior.