[pheaton]

LOL. We have been wayy off topic for a long time and really, this thread should have been locked ages ago.

Since the beginning of marital law in this country marriage has always been presumed to be between one man and one woman. This turned out to be a dangerous presumption. I'm sure if our founding fathers had it to do all over again, they would have been a little bit more clear as to what a marriage meant and like so many other parts of the constitution it would have been based off of Christian values.

But, they didn't specify that very clearly, so one day a gay couple thought they wanted to be married and decided to see if they would be allowed to do so. Then, this debate started.

Some states decided to go ahead and let gay people get married, they decided to keep their laws non specific and allow gay couples to get married. Some states passed amendments to their laws to clarify that marriage is only to be between a man and a woman. The majority of the people of this state voted that we are not going to recognize a gay marriage and the courts recognized that same fact and decided it was in the best interest of the state.

Some states supreme courts overturned bans, Others, including Nebraska chose to uphold the ban.

If you are gay and care soooo much about marriage and can't possibly be happy unless you get married, you have the option to go to a state that allows it. If you love each other that much you can take a road trip. Even if it were illegal in the whole country true love would find a way, right?

But don't sit here and pretend that we should change our lives and our laws just to give you a warm fuzzy feeling. You may not think it affects others, but it does. If the law changes, all of a sudden I legally have to act like your marriage is legitimate, when deep down I feel it's a perversion of what marriage should be. How does it hurt society? It wouldn't stop at marriage. Gay people will always demand more and more things be changed to accommodate them and to legitimize their relationships. The bottom line is that people that have traditional values just don't support, nor will they ever support a gay lifestyle and every time you try and change laws to benefit gays you chip a way a little more at the rights of the straight.

As for the topic. I don't think there are a lot of people in here that are going to help you SurfO in terms of getting Benson officially called a "gay district". Maybe one day if gays fill the entire area and take over all of the Benson businesses people will just start calling it the rainbow district, or whatever. You want to be treated the same, but yet you want your own district, I don't get it. If you have your own district you will alienate yourself, straight people aren't going to go there and get harassed and hit on or have to watch gays in action.

[Raphael07]

Originally Posted by pheaton

LOL. We have been wayy off topic for a long time and really, this thread should have been locked ages ago.

Since the beginning of marital law in this country marriage has always been presumed to be between one man and one woman. This turned out to be a dangerous presumption. I'm sure if our founding fathers had it to do all over again, they would have been a little bit more clear as to what a marriage meant and like so many other parts of the constitution it would have been based off of Christian values.

But, they didn't specify that very clearly, so one day a gay couple thought they wanted to be married and decided to see if they would be allowed to do so. Then, this debate started.

Some states decided to go ahead and let gay people get married, they decided to keep their laws non specific and allow gay couples to get married. Some states passed amendments to their laws to clarify that marriage is only to be between a man and a woman. The majority of the people of this state voted that we are not going to recognize a gay marriage and the courts recognized that same fact and decided it was in the best interest of the state.

Some states supreme courts overturned bans, Others, including Nebraska chose to uphold the ban.

If you are gay and care soooo much about marriage and can't possibly be happy unless you get married, you have the option to go to a state that allows it. If you love each other that much you can take a road trip. Even if it were illegal in the whole country true love would find a way, right?

But don't sit here and pretend that we should change our lives and our laws just to give you a warm fuzzy feeling. You may not think it affects others, but it does. If the law changes, all of a sudden I legally have to act like your marriage is legitimate, when deep down I feel it's a perversion of what marriage should be. How does it hurt society? It wouldn't stop at marriage. Gay people will always demand more and more things be changed to accommodate them and to legitimize their relationships. The bottom line is that people that have traditional values just don't support, nor will they ever support a gay lifestyle and every time you try and change laws to benefit gays you chip a way a little more at the rights of the straight.

As for the topic. I don't think there are a lot of people in here that are going to help you SurfO in terms of getting Benson officially called a "gay district". Maybe one day if gays fill the entire area and take over all of the Benson businesses people will just start calling it the rainbow district, or whatever. You want to be treated the same, but yet you want your own district, I don't get it. If you have your own district you will alienate yourself, straight people aren't going to go there and get harassed and hit on or have to watch gays in action.

Marriage is far more than that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_..._United_States
These are the automatic rights associated with marriage that gay couples are denied to.
Plus, why are you trying to.... You call yourself a Christian but you deny love, our God is Love! And how would it affect you so much? Honestly, how?

[Raphael07]

and....
Same-sex marriage in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by SurfOmaha

The law should apply to the needs of the people. The Gay community is excluded from the benefits of a social wide institution! It is time to make room for gays. In Omaha, it is time for a gay district in Benson!!

Perhaps the majority of the business owners in Benson DON'T WANT it to be a Gay District. Did you ever think of that?

Maybe they just want it to be a business district. And since there are already several gay business owners in Benson, it's obviously not that much of an issue.

Why are you always pressing for special privileges? You can't be satisfied to just live like other people do, go about your business and live your life? Apparently not.

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by Go Ne

Marriage is far more than that.
Rights and responsibilities of marriages in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
These are the automatic rights associated with marriage that gay couples are denied to.
Plus, why are you trying to.... You call yourself a Christian but you deny love, our God is Love! And how would it affect you so much? Honestly, how?

Most Christians that I've heard talk about homosexuality claim their Bible says that homosexuality is wrong - a sin.

So why are you calling yourself a Christian, and openly flaunting something the Christian Bible says is wrong? That's kind of like a Highway Patrolman saying that speeding and running stop signs is perfectly fine.

[Raphael07]

Name verses.

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by Go Ne

Name verses.

Seriously? You claim to be a Christian, but you don't know any of the verses?

[McBain II]

Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks

Most Christians that I've heard talk about homosexuality claim their Bible says that homosexuality is wrong - a sin.

And they'd be wrong.

There are no verses in the bible that specifically speak of homosexuality as a sin. There is one or two that could possibly be interpreted that way, but there is plenty of dispute about it, and even leading theologians haven't been able to come to agreement yet.

[mattpoulsen]

And for every bible verse you cite against homosexuality one can also cite one that says its not YOUR business to judge and that is only god's domain. In its totality the bible is absolutely ambiguous on the matter of homosexuality. And besides, if we start outlawing everything that is listed in the bible then we'll be gouging our eyes out with spoons and stoning our daughters.

Moreover, marriage is NOT just about religion. So why is that even part of the conversation?? Jews might think its against their religion to work on Saturday does that mean we should all shutdown our businesses so as not to upset them??

If you think gay marriage is wrong then don't enter into a gay marriage. And if your church thinks gay marriage is a sin then that church shouldn't perform gay marriages. But that is not what is up for debate here. The question here relates to state sanctioned marriage and that does NOT require any blessing by any church.

The Founders did NOT speak out on the issue of marriage at all. The constitution does not contain a "marriage clause." Marriage was determined to be a fundamental right by the Courts (gasp!).

So whether or not the laws at the time would not have allowed gay marriage is completely irrelevant. Guess what also was going on at the time the Constitution was penned?? Slavery. Based on your logic it would be ok to still engage in slavery because the founders contemplated it, engaged in it and referenced it in the Constitution.

No, the constitution and its interpretation are not and should not be static. That is the one thing the Founders recognized. That as society norms evolved the citizens of this country would be situated so as to allow them to engage in "peaceful revolt" by amending the constitution for the greater good.

As far as a "gay district," I agree with you Omaharocks. Having a gay district is antithetical to the entire movement for which Surf portends to represent. I'm not sure why gays need a separate district to have equal rights. To me they should desire a society that doesn't require a separate district. I'm sure an analogy to ghettos could be made here.

Again, I have not yet heard why exactly gay marriage will wreck your marriage or society? I mean your best argument as to how it hurts society is that it will warp your mind into thinking what a proper marriage is?? Really?? Then why do we allow divorce? My lord, the 5% of gay married couples will have a much much smaller impact on society than the 70% of men cheating on their wives or the 50% of hetero couples who get divorced.

Gay couples aren't going away. So Adam and Steve down the block will still be there living their gay lifestyle. How is letting them get married going to unravel society?? How does allowing gay marriage "chip away at the rights of straights?" To me that's about like saying desegregation will chip away at the rights of white students.

[Raphael07]

Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks

Seriously? You claim to be a Christian, but you don't know any of the verses?

I have. But name them anyway.