If church and state are separate, how can homos have the right to marry when...

If it was strictly a religious ceremony then gays would not have a legal leg to stand on. But since the gov. got involved in marriage, i.e. marriage licenses, tax break, then it became a secular ceremony and equal protection under the law kicks in.

marriage started out as religious but is now a part of the government and the law, not recognized as religious, but as a bond recognized by the state.

You know...you far-rightwing anti-marriage-equality folks are overlooking the irony of your objections to homosexuals engaging in sex and also to having same-sex marriage when the best way to make sure homosexuals do not have sex anymore is to let them get married---marriage tends to lessen the desire for intimacy by its very nature...lol.

GOP extremists do not acknowledge the First and Fourteenth Amendments to our Constitution with the same fervor (fanaticism) that they cling to and worship the Second Amendment, but if they should change this selectivist approach to the point where Separation of Church and State was acceptable to their religious-fanatic selves, then their biblical-literalist (erroneous) "religion"-based objections to gay marriage might ease up in a "live and let live" or "to each his or her own" manner.

I think it is time to concede some ground and rethink the issue.

What are the homosexual marriage advocates asking for in all reality? They are asking to step over to the other side of the line with heterosexual married people, and participate in excluding all others from participating in the priveliges and obligations associated with marriage by the state. Who can deny this?

I say the state should not discriminate, and sexual relations should not be a pre-conditions for enjoying the benefits of this legal contract. Consider the "Chuck and Larry" situation. Why must they demonstrate a sexual relationship for the state to consider them married?
I can understand the prohibition on the number of people involved and keeping it at two, but since homosexual unions do away with the procreative aspects of this legal union, then why on earth can't any two people participate, regardless of their relationship?

By what ethical standard can homosexuals and heterosexuals included, and everyone else excluded?

You sound like a real punk.

Then why do you get a state-issued marriage license? There are legal parts to being married. Sharing your property is one of them.

And it is the 'wedding' that is the religious ceremony.

Why does the state issue the license, Dumb c0n.

Marriage isn't a religious ceremony for me. How come I shouldn't be allowed to marry, are you a dictator or something?

Yes and I'm not aware of any legislation, anywhere, which forces Churches to celebrate or recognize these marriages.

People have been getting married at city hall for decades. I know of civil service registrars who were fired because their religious convictions would not permit them to marry people of the same sex. That's fine. The civil service administers the law - not morality. The law does not reach into religious establishments, and that's fine too.

The word 'marriage' actually means two completely different things. Sometimes we confuse them, and sometimes it's deliberate.

One definition of marriage is a religious sacrament. And churches have the right to decide who they will marry and who not, it's none of the govts. business. Religious people don't realize that the separation of church and state is as much to protect the church from the state as vice versa.

The other definition of marriage is a civil partnership, allowing people to legally co-mingle finances, own property jointly and inherit without probate, be responsible for one another's debts, etc. And this is a CIVIL right, i.e a right of citizenship, which ought to be available to all citizens. Churches have no part in this form of marriage.

Actually some churches these days -will- marry gays. But it's up to them. The thing about civil rights is that one of the most basic principles of our form of democracy is that all citizens have exactly the same rights and privileges. People can't even vote to deny rights to one group. So gays have the right to get married.

But let's wait and see what the Supreme Court says. They will be examining the issue this year.

Marriage is also a legal status and the state gives certain benefit to married couples. If it were only a religious ceremony this would be unconstitutional.