Question on a religious person's point of view on same-sex marriage?

Well I'm religious and I believe you and your partner should have the same exact rights as any straight couple gets. :)

Not all religions are against gays and their equal rights. In fact, you may find this old tale from a much earlier member of my religion (yes Plato was a Polytheist people!) interesting. :) It tells the myth of how humans used to be "stuck together" and once split apart would yearn for their other half. So there were men split into two men, women split into two women, and androgynous male/female beings split into a man and woman. Our mythology (which most of us take symbolically) respects all kinds of relationships.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulmate#Mythology

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/symposium.html

For my legal reasoning, we all have freedom of religion in this country, and some religions have no problem with gay marriage. And since NO religion created or "owns" the institution, none of them get to define it for anyone but themselves. The government is required to be religiously neutral in order to ensure that it treats us all fairly, thus the legal definition of marriage cannot favor any one religious POV over any other.

Regardless of my religious views or lack thereof, USA doesn't have a national religion, in fact it states a separation of church and state, plus same sex marriage affects no one except for those two people getting married. There is no legal reason it shouldn't be legal, and I think the fact that the government still waste time arguing about this topic is ridiculous. They have bigger problems to deal with.

I am a girl. I believe in the Good Lord. I HATE the fact you can not marry the one you love. That you can not be a father. (Most likely a damn good one at that who would raise a caring and opened child, something this world needs more of).

I think that you can not help who you love or are attracted too. So my view is that the laws are wrong. That even if it states that in the Bible being gay is a sin that people who are gay shall still enter the land of Heaven. Once that day come you will never have to deal with these kind of things.

My view is that you are a normal,loving, human being. Just as I am. A child of GOD. We are both the same. Only you like the same sex and I like the opsite.

I live in Mi and since I am not gay I don't know the laws but I believe that homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals. I think its tragic that so many people are uneducated about gays.

I don't want to have anything to do with not being open minded. I would speak up to any of these type of people if they said anything to me implying that homosexuality is wrong or that they should not be able to marry. In an intelligent civilization that would not even be an issue.

As far as I'm aware of, the only thing in Brehon Law regarding homosexuality and marriage is that a woman is allowed to divorce her husband if he prefers homosexual contact to heterosexual contact, Which, as far as I'm concerned, seems fair - kinda strikes me as a potential breach of contract. Otherwise, there's nothing I'm aware of that's against it - so, as a Celtic Reconstructionist, I don't see any problems giving it the go-ahead, on a religious level.

On a personal level, why would I want to deny that happiness to people? Nobody's getting harmed, so why should it be any skin off my back?

As a Christian, I don't care who you chose to marry. I don't agree with that choice, but it's not my choice, so it doesn't bother me.

With that said, I think we both can agree that religious institutions should never be forced by law to mary same-sex couples, as this legislates religion and religious practices.

Likewise, if a secular justice, who also holds privately certain religious beliefs concerning gay marriage, that person should have the legal right to recuse himself from performing a ceremony that he is religiously set against.

Therefore, so long as religious rights are protected on both the communal and individual level, I have no real issue against homosexual marriage.

I am a religious Wiccan in support of same-sex marriage.

The only reason previous cultures cared about couples being male and female was because growing the population was so incredibly important. In Christianity, sex was considered dirty for a long time, and the only way to justify doing it at all was for procreation, which requires a hetero couple.

The first outlook is outdated. The second I simply disagree with. I see no reason why gender should matter in a marriage, nor in parenting. Children deserve loving parents, regardless of gender.

Lets see...well personally it doesn't bother me who gets married in that it really doesn't affect my life. You already know the bible explanations so I won't get into that.

Also in the bible it says that we should be followers of God first, but also of the laws of the land. I remember hearing "All men are created equal" quite a few times...so it confuses me that this doesn't apply to marriage. Despite what people may think about it...our religious views don't always rule this land...everyone's supposed to be free & equal.

So that would be my thought process...it simply comes down to the supposed freedom and equality we have here...

Well, the whole argument is way deeper and far more political than you realize. You see, it's not gay marriage that is the problem. The problem is that when you provide all kinds of legal protection you stamp out the rights of other people in the process. What about the right of a pastor not to believe in gay marriage and not to have to perform gay marriages if they don't want to. The reason people fight against it is because of the deeper ramifications the whole line of thinking creates. What about the rights of churches to hold to beliefs they find to be true and to be able to follow that and discriminate on the basis of beliefs on who will have leadership positions? These laws in effect will cause the rights of others to be stamped out and that is also not fair and wrong. Why should one group of people's rights be so carefully legally protected that it is a felony to utter a negative word - when we are seriously looking at taking away the free speech rights of people within the church who are only trying to promote what they believe to be a godly lifestyle? It's not about love because love is all about self sacrifice and giving up anything for the one you love. There is one simple thing that you cannot do and that is to procreate. There is no way to mash the biological material of two men or of two women together to form a totally new human being. The whole basis of marriage is procreation and family - not sexual orientation. It's as simple as that from my point of view.

As a Christian, I believe that the Bible is the Word of God; meaning I believe that every word of the Bible is true. In the Bible, the act of homosexuality is said to be sinful on more than one occasion. After studying theology and through experiencing what I believe to be divine interactions with the one true God, I accept this as absolute truth.

So if the God of the universe says it's wrong, I am inclined to accept that.

As a Christian, I believe that people who love each other should be allowed to be with each other. However, I also strive to obey God as well. Many people today seem to believe that the only qualifications for marriage is love and desire for one another. As a Christian, I disagree. I believe that marriage involves love and desire for one another, but in obedience to God above all.

I believe that my God is the God of all. I believe that everyone was created in the image of God and are called to obey Him.

This is why I do not believe in same-sex marriage.

As you asked, this is my thought process. Whether you agree with it or not, is another matter. I hope this answers your question.