I was in Annapolis, Maryland at the protest over same sex marriage tonight. To get an idea where I am coming from, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. With that said, I also believe that the government has no business telling churches who they can and can’t marry. I am and have always been a supporter of doing away with the marriage license and replacing it with a civil union license.
At that point each person would be allowed to follow their own beliefs. If my Church does not allow same sex marriage and I am ok with that, great. If a person who wishes to get married and their church allows same sex marriage, why should I care? Other then having a civil union being between two consenting adults why should the government care?
I had a chance to speak with a same sex couple, and I asked them if they wanted to win the war or win the battle? After explaining to them my take on it, they still did not grasp my point. The marriage word was all the cared about. There does not have to be a law about getting married, after all that is supposed to be between you, the person you are marrying and God.
To me, having the same rights for both a straight couple and a same sex couple should be all anyone cares about.
While I was down at the protest I listened to a few interviews that where taking place on the fringe of the protest. One person was asked about adoption. As soon as the question was out of the reporters mouth I cringed. Having seen enough of these types of interviews done before I knew how the person would respond. Instead of saying each case should be treated case by case, the person answered by saying it was morally wrong for a same sex couple to raise kids. Sorry people but I know a lot of gay couples who would make great parents as well as knowing a lot of straight couples that should never have been allowed to reproduce.
In both cases had the people taken a step back and thought about what was really important, they could have won the war. Instead, both sides are missing the boat.
Take the word marriage out of the license and replace it with civil union and the churches reactions would not be so strong. Answer the question about adoption without passing judgment and you remove the anger created over blanket statements as well as opening up the doors to more children being adopted by a loving families.