I've been avoiding weighing in because I made a vow to not partake in religious debates, because they never end well. My debates with Ivy last year became borderline ugly, and I came to the conclusion that there's no point in arguing religion with someone who believes so completely in his faith. He's entitled as much to his beliefs as I am to my lack of belief. I tried to convince myself that my goal was to inform rather than try to change people's belief system to my own, but in reality, pointing out how foolish I thought his belief system to be was my way of trying to change his mind.
I disagree with people like Ivy, but I respect him and his beliefs. That didn't always come through during our debates, but that kind of proves my first point. It's pointless to have this argument, because our stances on the topic are unwavering, and it leads to nothing but frustration, which eventually leads to flaming and name calling.
My stance: live and let live.
I'm more than happy to leave religion completely out of this issue. It's the ones in support of gay marriage who keep bringing religion into the debate. They think if others are against gay marriage because of religion, that somehow makes their opinion on the issue meaningless or irrelevant.
However, as I keep saying, whatever reason people are against gay marriage for - religious or otherwise - doesn't matter. The issue is a Constitutional one. It's indeed a stretch to argue there is anything in the Constitution that would give the federal government the authority to usurp the rights of the individual states on this matter. That's what it all boils down to. But it seems some gay marriage supporters on this site prefer to cloud the issue by bringing religion and other things into it.
Mods should mind their own business and leave poster's profile signatures alone.
