South Africa approves gay marriage-what now?

[atheist_infidel0304]

Just heard about South Africa, which is now under court order to allow http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/#a011540 gay marriage after a law restricting it was tossed out.

--When a law is instituted allowing same-sex marriage, how specifically will this new provision "hurt" marriage?

--Will allowing same sex couples to marry harm heterosexuals?, if so, please explain how this is.

[Chimp]

Not that I subscribe to this notion, but it has been suggested that society
will descend into chaos if same sex marriage is allowed.

Two guys (or gals) getting married affects my marriage not one bit. It does
not alter how I feel about my wife, our relationship or my belief in God.

If there was a truly pragmatic approach to "saving" marriage, it would involve
attempting to curb the divorce rate, which is about 1.2 million a year, not
preventing people from legalizing their companionship.

[McCulloch]

Just heard about South Africa, which is now under court order to allow gay marriage after a law restricting it was tossed out.
--When a law is instituted allowing same-sex marraige, how specifically will this new provision "hurt" marriage?
--Will allowing same sex couples to marry harm heterosexuals?, if so, please explain how this is.

If experience means anything, this was how the situation developed in Canada. First, a judge ruled that restricting gay marriage was against our constitution. Then a judge in a different province made a similar ruling. Then a few provinces enacted legislation in keeping with these rulings and finally the federal government passed a law formally allowing same-sex marriage.
Throughout the whole process, religious conservatives made a lot of noise about how this would cheapen marriage or that it would redefine marriage and destroy the family.
None of the dire things that the conservatives have threatened have happened. Men and women are still getting married. Men and women are still getting divorced. Babies are still being made in the time honoured way (with or without the blessing of marriage). And everything pretty well goes along as it has before for heterosexuals. God has not visited any pestilence, plagues or punishments upon our ungodly country.

[Cephus]

It will have absolutely no negative effects in South Africa or Canada or anywhere else brave enough to throw off the shackles of religious dogma and try using it's gray matter for more than propping up it's hat.

You have to remember this is an issues of control. The religious want to control everyone else. They want to tell people how to act and how to think and how to believe because apparently they know best.

Tell that to all the kids that the Catholic priests are molesting.

[micatala]

--When a law is instituted allowing same-sex marraige, how specifically will this new provision "hurt" marriage?

It won't, IMHO.

--Will allowing same sex couples to marry harm heterosexuals?, if so, please explain how this is.

No, except possibly in a very very few cases where a person who is homosexual and is married to a heterosexual now decides to leave the current partner for another. On the other hand, this happens all the time now with heterosexuals and homosexuals.

I will be very interested to see how this plays out over the next couple of decades (assuming I am still around then).

[ST88]

It will have absolutely no negative effects in South Africa or Canada or anywhere else brave enough to throw off the shackles of religious dogma and try using it's gray matter for more than propping up it's hat.

But you have to remember that AmeriCHa is different. AmeriCHa is the shining city on a hill, the light to the world, the example by which all other nations should be shamed that they are not. This is God's country. That's why we have the death penalty, to show the world how religious we are.

God's not going to be able to smite Canada with a straight face, now is He?

[Cephus]

But you have to remember that AmeriCHa is different. AmeriCHa is the shining city on a hill, the light to the world, the example by which all other nations should be shamed that they are not. This is God's country. That's why we have the death penalty, to show the world how religious we are.

Anyone who believes that is a fricking idiot. Well, actually that describes the whining anti-homosexual fundamentalists pretty well, doesn't it?

[McCulloch]

But you have to remember that AmeriCHa is different. AmeriCHa is the shining city on a hill, the light to the world, the example by which all other nations should be shamed that they are not. This is God's country. That's why we have the death penalty, to show the world how religious we are.

Anyone who believes that is a fricking idiot. Well, actually that describes the whining anti-homosexual fundamentalists pretty well, doesn't it?

So, ST88 and Cephus have set up a straw-man and knocked it down. Were we going to debate anything here?

[juliod]

ST88 and Cephus have set up a straw-man and knocked it down.

Well, I think they've described US religious conservatives fairly well. And the group that thinks as they have described is not a small one. Maybe not a majority, but maybe 30-40% of US voters.

Were we going to debate anything here?

No one seems to have taken the position that this will cause any harm to SA. Al doesn't seem to be around right now.

DanZ

[Cephus]

Well, I think they've described US religious conservatives fairly well. And the group that thinks as they have described is not a small one. Maybe not a majority, but maybe 30-40% of US voters.

I don't know the numbers among voters, but what we've said certainly describes the most vocal Christian conservatives, including our current President. That's why we have all these anti-gay-marriage laws coming up. So much for the claimed strawman.

No one seems to have taken the position that this will cause any harm to SA. Al doesn't seem to be around right now.

That's because there won't be any harm, any more than there would be in the US. The whole thing is silly.