Holly,First, those who realize that homosexuality is an early death sentence for its practitioners have an obligation. They must tell these poor people that they are killing themselves. Those who oppose homosexuality and tell them why are far more caring than those who tell them to continue doing the very thing that robs them of years of life.
Second, the reason for the elevated status of marriage is because it is the basic building block of society. It is procreative, and the children produced by it form the next generation. It is entirely reasonable for the state to grant special status and benefits to the institution that has procreative potential. Obviously, homosexual marriage will never have that potential.
One has to realize that procreative potential is so unique that it is necessary to have a word to describe the institution that contains it. That word is "marriage."
If the word is doublespeaked to include homosexuals because of the mistaken view that marriage is about orgasmic release or about legal inheritance or some other misguided view of marriage, then it will not be too long before society comes up with some new expression to describe that unique heterosexual institutional bonding within which procreative potential is contained.
Homosexuals have the EXACT SAME marriage rights as the rest of us — they are free to marry ANY person of the opposite sex who is unmarried and of legal age to marry.
Exactly. True marriage will always distinguish itself from all the impostors. But the impostors will, in their irrational jealousy, demand that new expression for their own, by force of law if necessary. Better to defend the original term with the last ounce of our blood - an increasingly conceivable proposition.
Good letter, and very charitable to boot.
Thumbs up!!