Petros Agapetos
Regular Member
- Messages
- 179
- Reaction score
- 3
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
- Ethnic group
- Armenian {South Caucasian}
Same sex marriage - Arguments for and against - The right of homosexuals to marry
Gay marriage or same-sex marriage refers to marriage between two people of the same gender, typically because they are homosexual. It is a controversial subject in many religions and countries. Some countries allow a similar status of "civil union" which is marriage in all but name.
Arguments for Gay Marriage
If people want to get married, even if they of the same gender, there is no good reason to stop them. Therefore gay marriage should be allowed.
Gay marriage provides stability and benefits to the lives of those involved. For example, if one person is sick, the marriage partner has additional rights when dealing with authorities.
In July 2007, Austin Cline ran a poll on his weblog asking whether atheists should be allowed to marry. Respondents overwhelmingly said that marriage is a civil institution, not a religious one (it should be kept in mind that this poll was posted on an atheist weblog, and therefore the distribution of respondents was certainly skewed). Based on this, Cline drew the obvious conclusion:
"If religion isn't a good reason to prevent atheists from getting married, how can it be a good reason to prevent gays from getting married?"
Arguments against Gay Marriage
Both religious and secular arguments have been presented against gay marriage. It is notable, however, that most of the opponents of gay marriage—certainly the most vocal ones—present religious arguments, either alone or in addition to secular arguments. Rarely, if ever, does anyone present secular arguments alone. This leads to the conclusion that opposition to gay marriage is primarily rooted in religious beliefs. Arguments from religious beliefs fail as arguments since there is no evidence to suggest any holy book is true, and places like the United States have separation of church and state.
Gay marriage or same-sex marriage refers to marriage between two people of the same gender, typically because they are homosexual. It is a controversial subject in many religions and countries. Some countries allow a similar status of "civil union" which is marriage in all but name.
Arguments for Gay Marriage
If people want to get married, even if they of the same gender, there is no good reason to stop them. Therefore gay marriage should be allowed.
Gay marriage provides stability and benefits to the lives of those involved. For example, if one person is sick, the marriage partner has additional rights when dealing with authorities.
In July 2007, Austin Cline ran a poll on his weblog asking whether atheists should be allowed to marry. Respondents overwhelmingly said that marriage is a civil institution, not a religious one (it should be kept in mind that this poll was posted on an atheist weblog, and therefore the distribution of respondents was certainly skewed). Based on this, Cline drew the obvious conclusion:
"If religion isn't a good reason to prevent atheists from getting married, how can it be a good reason to prevent gays from getting married?"
Arguments against Gay Marriage
Both religious and secular arguments have been presented against gay marriage. It is notable, however, that most of the opponents of gay marriage—certainly the most vocal ones—present religious arguments, either alone or in addition to secular arguments. Rarely, if ever, does anyone present secular arguments alone. This leads to the conclusion that opposition to gay marriage is primarily rooted in religious beliefs. Arguments from religious beliefs fail as arguments since there is no evidence to suggest any holy book is true, and places like the United States have separation of church and state.