1.

What could be wrong with affirming two

people’s love and commitment to each other?
The question at issue in the same-sex marriage
debate is not whether the love of same-sex
couples for each other should be affirmed, but
whether it should be affirmed as marriage. There
are many ways in which families, friends,
communities, and society more generally could
affirm the love and commitment of a same-sex
couple that don’t involve redefining the
institution of marriage. These can and should be
discussed in their place, but this particular
debate concerns marriage

Why should same-sex couples be denied rights

in areas such as inheritance or visitation? I do
not believe that they should. However, there are
ways to grant or secure such rights without
redefining marriage. To redefine an institution as
fundamental to human society as marriage for
the sole purpose of addressing such problems is
extreme overkill. More troubling, the suggestion
that one not infrequently encounters that it
would be a sufficient rationale for doing so
betrays an alarmingly hollow view of what
marriage actually stands for.. Jesus never said
anything about same-sex marriages. Why should
Christians speak on the subject? As I have
already remarked, many opponents of same-sex
marriage believe that it is an impossible entity,
so it should not surprise us that Jesus never
spoke about it, just as he never spoke against
women being fathers. Nevertheless, Jesus’
teaching does clearly stand against same-sex
marriage. Jesus grounds the institution of
marriage firmly in the created reality of sexual
dimorphism:

Doesn’t all opposition to same-sex marriage

boil down to homophobia and opposition to gay
sex? No. One does not have to exclude LGBT
persons from those to whom we owe equitable
treatment and recognition of personal dignity in
order to oppose same-sex marriage. Opposition
to same-sex marriage can be quite consistent
with support for civil rights for LGBT persons
more generally
same-sex marriage is the marriage of two
persons of the same sex or gender, entered into
in a civil or religious ceremony.