I'll have to disagree with you on that point. Religion aside, if a man and man or woman and woman could naturally (on their own) procreate w/out any form of intervention then it would be "natural". It is obvious that 2 men together or 2 women together cannot conceive naturally on their own. I'll go a step further by saying that our Creator did not intend for it to be that way! Heck, for that matter, there are plenty of couples (man and woman) that have a hard enough time conceiving the "natural" way! In other words, God created homo sapiens NOT homo sexuals!

If you go to read the article link (above), there are many comments posted there. I think one valid point is that the term be changed to "civil union", with both gay and straight couples being recognized in the eyes of the law, but only men and women being able to get married through the church. I think lawmakers should look into some kind of compromise like that.

To the poster above, you may want to take a look at this recent topic:

http://www.trianglemom2mom.com/content/homosexuality

The question is:  How would you react if your child were to come out as homosexual?

God instituted marriage as between one man and one woman. No more questions about it! The devil preverted it and no other way is the right way!

This is very interesting to me. I am from New Jersey, what you would call a "liberal" state and I am a liberal-minded person. Now that I live in North Carolina, I really feel like there's a huge divide between my beliefs and those of my neighbors. I'm wondering now if this is the right place to raise my family. I want them to grow up to be open-minded.

mami2jandc, I know what you mean about wondering whether this is a good environment considering some of the more close-minded views that become the loudest, especially when gender, class, race, and other matters get discussed. I am female, and married to the most wonderful man for me. But I am in full support of same-sex marriage and think it is a waste of time and frankly quite lewd for people to even get into other people's personal lives in order to force their opinion as to whether or not two consenting adults should or should not be in a relationship. And this isn't a new idea -- my own grandmother, who was the youngest of 12 in a very traditional family taught us that when two adults love and care for each other, there is never anything wrong with that, in fact we all have alot to learn from it. Don't folks remember when interracial marriage was banned because people thought it was "unnatural"?
So I guess I would say, don't believe the loudest people who spread animosity -- there are many, many of us here in NC who believe that we should spread love, not hate and stay out of other people's bedrooms. Stay in NC, mami2jandc -- we need more of us here!

Thank you for your post, podwoman! I feel much better after reading your message. :-)

To answer your question: if my child came to me and told me that he/she was pursuing a homosexual lifestyle, I first and foremost would let them know that I love them no matter what (love the sinner). Then, as my duty as a christian mother I would in love let them know that this is against God's word and his platform for living (hate the sin). Please open the bible and look at the messages that are replete throughout that the homosexual lifestyle is wrong! Hey, I didn't make the rules! Look at Sodom and Gomorrah- why do you think God destroyed this city? When I lived in San Diego I met my dad's uncle for the first time. He was gay. He was afraid that I would reject him like my father did. I did not reject him; I accepted him but he also was very aware on my position on homosexuality (again, love the sinner- hate the sin). He did not give up his lifestyle and unfortunately, in the end, he died from AIDS. Again, if it was a natural state for men to be with men and women with women, there would also be a way for them to procreate naturally. However, this is not the case!

I'll agree with you on that- "people" or society, if you will, thought that interracial marriage was wrong but nothing from the bible substantiates that! Back then, it was more a reflection of racism in America rather than the truth found in God's word. The main point is that Truth will always be found in the bible- God's word and not in the mindset of people. If we didn't have absolute truth, we would not have the foundation for laws, regulations, etc... in this country. Whether society likes it or not, this country was founded on christian beliefs and principles! I'm very opposed to christians who spread animosity rather than approach a sinful world with love and God's precept for righteous living! I love people but I will stand up for God's word and let the truth be known!

mami2jandc- I know that reading many of these posts is discouraging. Trying to validate an amendment based on religious beliefs (Biblical ones in particular) has no place in the legal system of this country. (There is no mention of God or Christianity in the Constitution.)  I found particularly interesting the post that referred to the gay uncle who died of AIDS as if it was his due. I am a firm believer that courts should perform ONLY civil unions for all couples and that marriages should be reserved for churches. There should be no such entity as a marriage license. Therefore the legal benefits of the union would apply to gay and straight couples alike. I would march down to the courthouse today with my husband to change our marriage to a civil union if I thought that it would advance the rights of gay Americans. Please stay in NC and recruit more like-minded friends to join you.

Thank you, too, for your post. ^^^

Yes, the First Amendment wisely established separation of church and state.

I always chuckle when the term "close minded" is used. It seems like those open minded people certainly are closed minded to the well documented statistics. Try reading the Velvet Rage, written by a gay man acknowledging the horrific problems that are rampant within the gay community.

I'm all for equal rights for all Americans and certainly the gay community here is one of the wealthiest, most pampered and adulated group in all of the world. However, as old as this world is, for us to casually dismantle an institution that has been handed down for centuries is pure folly. Think about it....

We thought we were enlightened with the sexual revolution, didn't we? Where has that gotten us? We now have broken marriages and families to spare, children raping and killing other children, a general breakdown of morality, people loving only themselves and the horrific abuse of women and children through pornography and those addicted to porn.

Well, darn it if we got that one wrong! Let's try something else. I know! Let's change a major social institution and see how that goes! Let's conveniently ignore the health statistics, suicide statistics, drug and alcohol statistics, mental issues, domestic abuse statistics, etc etc etc.

People, seriously! Religion, open mindedness, close mindedness....whatever! Use that thing up in your noggin and look at this issue with clarity.

All of the sequelae of the sexual revolution which you mentioned arose from heterosexuality run amuck but I don't see anyone wanting to outlaw that. It is impossible to legislate sexual preference. Gays have existed at least as long as the notion of marriage. Intelligent people can disagree on this. I really believe that the solution to this issue is to perform only civil unions between all couples legally and return marriage to a religious sacrament. The courts can therefore provide equal rights regardless and the church can do as it wishes.