Laws should not be based on a particular religion's principles to begin with.

That is certainly true. For instance, Old Testament tradition was for women to be married to ~35 year old men as soon as they started menstruating.

well, their arguments for biblical support for gay marriage are very... very week. they are skirting around issues looking for inconsistencies between old testament "marriages and families" and what most fundamental Christians today think a "family should be. all the while they are kind of ignoring the 800 lb gorilla in the middle of the room... in Leviticus it expressly decries homosexuality. however no... it does not specifically say a gay couple cannot get married.
and this is actually one of the reasons i feel that "religious" and "civil" aspects of marriage should not be as closely tied together as they are.

The thing I like best about the article is how it completely deflates the idea of "traditional marriage," which is the buzzword conservatives loves to throw around.

On a side note.... the image that says: Gay Is The New Black

So... what they are trying to say is that they don't have the same rights as white and black men do?

Also, isn't being gay, a sexual preference, like a preference of my favorite food? Unlike being black which is genetic?

My view is that gay people don't want equal rights, they want special rights.

blah blah blah

I am finished here.

Well it boils down to this, we humans have no arguments against allowing other people to do whatever the hell they want, as long as it doesn't affect a 3rd party.

I find homosexuality morally wrong, that's my view. I also think that homosexuality is a preference that for whatever reasons an individual has learned or accepted, and that it can be changed, perhaps not as simple as changing ice cream preferences, but not impossible either.

I won't say much more than that, I am finished here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy#Mainstream_scientific_community_perspectives

* American Academy Of Paediatrics ("Therapy directed specifically at changing sexual orientation is contraindicated, since it can provoke guilt and anxiety while having little or no potential for achieving changes in orientation.")

* American Counseling Association ("Research does not support conversion therapy as an effective treatment modality.... There is potential for harm when clients participate in conversion therapy.")

* American Psychiatric Association ("In the last four decades, 'reparative' therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure. Until there is such research available, APA recommends that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals' sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to first, do no harm.")

* American Psychological Association ("Mental health professional organizations call on their members to respect a person’s (client’s) right to self determination")

* Joint coalition of health organizations ("[H]ealth and mental health professional organizations do not support efforts to change young people's sexual orientation through 'reparative therapy' and have raised serious concerns about its potential to do harm.)

I didn't read it

I didn't read it, but what I get from the highlights, they thought homosexuality is a sickness?

Like I said its a preference, just like people who smoke and don't smoke. People who smoke and leave, always have the urge to want to go back and smoke, why? Cause the like it, cause they learned to like it. Yeah, its a habbit [sic] and what not, but sex is a habbit [sic] for some people.

Its a matter of self discipline and will power.

Now I am truly finished here, I have work to do.

go go go!

"Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery." - Luke 16:18

If conservatives actually gave a **** about the "sanctity of marriage" they'd stop gay-bashing and work on passing constitutional amendments to ban divorce.

Jesus on homosexuality: "..."

Jesus on divorce: "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery." - Luke 16:18

I'm looking at you, Ronald Reagan, John McCain, Newt Gingrich, Fred Thompson, Bob Barr, Rush Limbaugh, and so on and so forth.

Glenn Greenwald summed it up pretty well when he wrote:

One last thing: Don't ever compare being gay to being a smoker. It's not only a completely ridiculous and fallacious comparison, but it's also fairly insulting.

Like I said its a preference, just like people who smoke and don't smoke.

I didn't read it.

Like I said its a preference, just like people who smoke and don't smoke.

Doesn't Leviticus also include a lot of other directives that no one follows any more? You can't just pick and choose which ones you want to base policy on.

Doesn't Leviticus also include a lot of other directives that no one follows any more? You can't just pick and choose which ones you want to base policy on.