Arguments against legal same-sex marriage (and why they're nonsense)

Finally, President Obama has taken a stand and voiced his support for gay marriage.  No, not gay marriage, just marriage -- marriage for everyone, regardless of race, religion, economic status, or sexual orientation.

I've long been an advocate for marriage for all, despite my Catholic upbringing. And no matter what your religious beliefs are, I'm hoping you'll agree that the law should allow any two consenting adults to wed.  If you keep in mind that we're talking about marriage as a legal contract, I don't see any arguments against it!  Here are all the usual reasons people oppose same-sex marriage -- and why I don't think they matter:


The Bible does not allow same-sex marriage
This is a religious argument, and not a legal one.  Separation of church and state guarantees that no one group can impose their religious beliefs on another group.  Or should guarantee, at least.  There are religions that do no oppose same-sex marriage, what about their beliefs? Oh, hang on -- the Bible doesn't allow divorce, either -- should we start campaigning to outlaw divorce?


Marriage has always been, and always should be, between a man and a woman (it's Adam & Eve, not Adam & Steve)
If you're going to follow the traditional Judeo-Christian definition of marriage, then you should know that the traditional definition of marriage also included the wife being the man's property, with no legal status of her own.




Same-sex marriage threatens traditional family values
With divorce rates so high, with extramarital affairs and adultery so rampant, I think heterosexual marriage is already doing that without any help. 


The sexual union of a man and a woman, capable of producing children, is essential to marriage and is its centerpiece.
If this is the premise for marriage, then man-woman couples who choose not to have children, or those who cannot have children, should not be allowed to get married either.


I don't want my children to think that same-sex marriage is okay.
Personally I think that's a sad thing to say, but The First Amendment guarantees your right to that opinion.  You have the right to teach your children whatever you want regarding homosexuality.  It even guarantees the right of your church to turn away gay people and condemn them to burn in hell.  But you need to acknowledge to your children that other people have different opinions, and the law should guarantee the rights of people with opinions different from yours.



If the majority of Americans vote to ban same-sex marriage, that should be the end of the discussion
Civil rights should never be put to a vote --if they were, black people would still be sitting at the back of the bus and women would still be a man's property.




Why not allow marriage between a man and a dog?
Dogs are not consenting adults.  A dog would have no say in whether he wanted to marry the man -- and since dogs are quite intelligent beings, I imagine they probably wouldn't want to, anyway.


Why not allow polygamy?
Actually, I have no answer for that. If all three/four/five/etc.. parties involved are consenting adults, they can't do it because....?  As always, where the state is involved, it's just a legal issue, not a moral or religious one. Maybe the complexities of property rights/inheritance/divorce/etc..need to be established first? 




I know this post is going to be controversial, but I want history to know that I'm on the right side.  It wasn't too long ago that Oscar Wilde was jailed for sodomy, after all.  There's still a long way to go, but having the Most Powerful Man in the World come out in support of gay rights is a good thing.  Times are a-changing, and it's good to see Obama changing along with the times.  Maybe that hopey-changey thing is working out after all.