If the conservatives and the religious (some) are so against altering "traditional marriage" why aren't they leading the way when it comes to instituting civil unions or domestic partnerships?

They really just want you stop having sex with each other. All the other stuff is just legal mumbo-jumbo.

I suspect that they just do not want them to be together at all. I think they only pretend to be in favour if civil unions to make themselves seem less bigoted.
It was the same when they opposed interracial marriage to “preserve the traditional definition of marriage”. In the end it were the courts who had to abolish the ban on interracial marriage.

The whole “gay marriage” debate is kept around because it works wonders as a “social smokescreen” to hide bigger, real problems behind.

George W. Bush was elected to a second term by hiding Iraq behind the smokescreen of “gay marriage”.

jesus christ america, grow the fuck up

Once you get married under God, you can have sex. you might want to try to take a look at http://www.fluther.com/disc/45703/why-is-being-gay-a-sin/

@cyndihugs

Stop telling me when I can and cannot have sex.

kthxbi

@Ivan I belive @cyndihugs was simply telling you to get your facts strait.

@Ivan I’m not telling you when you can and cannot have sex. Why the fuck would i want to control your life anyways? I’m not against gays, straights, or lesbians. Who am i to judge you anyway?

The conservative don’t want things to change from what they are used to and comfortable with. If they had their way, men would still be wearing lace around their sleeves, and women would be confined to the sitting room.

The religious protestors simply want to have the whole idea safely hidden away, the way it used to be so, because it harms their rigid ideas about what their ‘God’ wants and doesn’t want.

I believe marriage should be a civil union for everyone. The church part should be optional for everyone.

<—-in sitting room wearing lace sleeves, how confusing is that?

I am Baptist, and I am pro-gay rights.
The outcry against gay marriage as a slight on the foundations of Marriage drives me crazy, especially when the people saying this are themselves divorced.

It’s a good question
and I’d add to that that if the institution of marriage is so sacred, let them focus on not being some cheating asses – there are plenty of those on both ends; I agree with @filmfann

A marriage is hard to maintain, takes real love, and if two people, any two people have real love and want to spend their life together, let them, NOBODY has the right to tell them otherwise, I don’t care what you think you read in some book or who told you what in church

@filmfann . . .A pro-gay rights baptist? How do you keep your head from exploding?

@Blondesjon heh, I’m sure ze does okay

@Simone_De_Beauvoir . . .I suppose. But when you throw in the whole dancing thing…

@cyndihugs

“Once you get married under God, you can have sex.”

Hmmm. How nice. So does that mean that all atheists, Buddhists, animists, and anyone else who doesn’t believe in your particular flavor of deity should remain a lifelong virgin?

The only time I have a problem with my head exploding is when I see some of the evangelicals demanding that their opinions are God’s. They make Christianity as a whole look bad.
You know, I don’t have a bumper sticker on my car. If I had one that said “Obama” or “Jesus is my co-pilot” or whatever, and I accidentally cut someone off in traffic (and I am a careful driver), or if I parked funny, I don’t want someone seeing the sticker and saying “Fuckin’ democrat” or “Fuckin’ Christian”. I want people who know me, and know my heart to see what my beliefs are. That would be good for my religion and my causes.

@crisw that’s just a terrible idea
lol

Years ago, I volunteered for the John Anderson presidential campaign, and we had another worker at the site calling voters on our lists, and purposely being annoying, so that they would end up not voting for our guy, and voting for Reagan.

@crisw i think the bible should be modernized, but that’s just how “some” people think either way we have the choice to decide what we want to do… by “some” i mean homophobes

In my experience it’s not the idea of gay marriage that bothers many of these people as much as the idea of gay sex.

I can guarantee you that if the President and Congress were to move today to state that all legal marriages would now be called “civil unions” and the term marriage were now legally preserved as the sole domain of the church, it wouldn’t stop the debate.

because they suck huge gay wiener that’s why…

a couple buddies of mine are gay, dating, they want to get married… I don’t see the huge issue to be honest. I mean, yeah if bob is taking steve from behind on the hood of your car when you get up in the morning for coffee, I could see where you’d have a problem with gays… but honestly, live and let live for fuck’s sake…

I had myself ordained for the day when gays can legally marry just to get in on that whole ‘make a buck marrying folks’ bidness. Well not really, the REAL reason I became an ordained minister was so that the nonbelievers I know have an option besides going to the Justice of the Peace for a nice ceremony.

I was an atheist when I got married in a Christian church twenty years ago, and there was no bolt of lightning. Maybe I was lucky and got married while God was taking a nap.

I’m a conservative advocate of all marriages (homo,hetero) being defined by the govt as civil unions. We exist, but unfortunately we are not the majority.