Solid majority of Americans for federal same sex marriage benefits

[HAnnA MArin County]

It's just a sudden shock to what most of our generation and the ones before us grew up with.  We lived in a world where marriage was defined by the Bible (and technically still is), not by man (and technically still is not).  We need time to get used to it and come to terms with it.

I'm not saying it's the wrong approach, but I don't want it dumped on everybody in America.  I also don't want to be called a bigot or some how accused of hate should I preach against same sex marriage.
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First of all, people ARE getting used to it - that's why you're seeing more support for the idea nationally, so maybe it's just time for you to play catch up.

Secondly, saying you "don't want it dumped on everybody in America" seems familiar to the arguments that the states' rights advocates used in their defense of slavery. No one is going to force you as a person to marry someone who is gay. Marriage is about love, and whom we choose to love cannot and should not be dictated by law. I can assure you that if/once it is legalized nationally, no churches will be forced to perform same-sex marriages if it goes against their doctrine. We just want to be treated equally under the law and enjoy the same benefits as heterosexual couples do.

Thirdly, in your time when marriage was defined by the Bible as you put it, would that also include the time when it was illegal for interracial couples to marry? Also, how can you say that it is/was defined by the Bible when man's law allows for divorce, which your Bible says is also an abomination. Doesn't your Bible also say if a woman is not a virgin on her marriage night that she shall be stoned to death? You cannot pick and choose what scriptures to follow and choose what scriptures not to follow, because according to your religion, the Bible is a done deal and it is not negotiable; therefore, by that very nature, by you not living 100% according to what the Bible preaches makes you a sinner, as we all are, so why feel the need to demonize one sin and condone one or others? That seems like you are adding to the Bible, which the Bible also speaks out against, so really you're committing two sins at once, and doing so in "Christ's name" is probably a sin somewhere in there, too, so that's three strikes against you.

Fourthly, I will agree with you that, yes, it is a generational issue, and if you haven't noticed, your generation is getting older and dying off, and my generation is expanding and we have grown up in a different time where we see no problems with same-sex marriage. We are the future of our country, and we do not want to live in your world/time, as you put it.

Finally, the Bible is not the supreme law of our country; the U.S. Constitution is, and it is through this document from which our rights are derived. The Declaration of Independence couldn't be any more specific with its preamble, "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that ALL men {and women] are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Denying someone liberty goes against everything we stand for as a nation. Man's law cannot be governed by the Bible. There is a separation of church doctrine in the U.S. Constitution. You head down a slippery slope when you start injecting religion into the discussion of how you feel on certain issues. If you want to live in a country where religion is the law of the land, move to the Middle East where they do follow religious law and where gay people are hanged to death and women are beaten and raped and have acid thrown in their faces "in the name of religion."

It all comes down to equality. Gay people pay the same taxes you do to the same government, and all we are asking for is to be treated equally.