[Lorianne]

I don't see how that is applicable. Either two parent households are good for children or they aren't. All evidence supports that two parents actively engaged in supporting/caring for/raising their children is the optimal arrangement for children, and for society in general.

Don't get me wrong, marriage is great, admirable etc. I highly recommend it. But sticking together for your kids whether married or not is the the crux of the issue, not the piece of paper from the State saying the parents are married.

[firebrand]

Two unmarried parents is usually better than only one parent, but marriage lends stability to what can otherwise be a nervous, tenatative arrangement. The promise to stay together is the important thing, made by two people who respect promises. Think of all the insecurity that vanishes, or should vanish, when that promise is made. That's when the unit becomes a family.

[Mr. Silverback]

But sticking together for your kids whether married or not is the the crux of the issue, not the piece of paper from the State saying the parents are married.

Gay marriage amounts to State endorsement of homosexual practice. That's bad.

[Mr. Silverback]

Please ignore my last post and read this one.

But sticking together for your kids whether married or not is the the crux of the issue, not the piece of paper from the State saying the parents are married.

Gay marriage amounts to State endorsement of homosexual practice. That's bad in and of itself.

As for sticking together for your kids, what do you think the level of mongamistic practice is among male homosexuals? What's the average length of their "committed relationships"? As for female homosexuals, you know that old joke about lesbians renting a U-Haul on the second date? Do you think that got started because they do that once and stay together for fifty years, or because it happens over and over again? Sound like a stick-too-itive, stable environment for kids?

Of course, this is largely academic. There will be a wave of gay marriages, and then things will go back to where they are now, except that we will be more accepting of an activity that is destructive to our culture, and there sure won't be a bunch more kids living in two-parent homes.

[RobRoy]

No marriage = no commitment

It is LITERALLY that simple. The lack of commitment keeps a nice "edge" on things.