Gay Marriage

[gekko]

3 I dont consider interacial marrige to be "special" because its based on a relationship that can produce progeny just as as mono-racial(not sure if this is a real word) marrige can.

I consider marrige important mainly because promotes the nurture of children. I consider all other positive aspects to actually be inducements(perhaps at level evolutionary biology) to good child care.

I have a major problem with your logic here, and with your suggestion that homosexuality is a mental illness because such relationships do not allow for the couple to bear children.

My mother has succesfully brought 3 children into the world. Due to an operation about 5 years ago, she is incapable of carrying any more babies (granted, at her age it would be unlikely anyways, however, as I'll discuss in a moment, that is unimportant). Do you then believe my father has a mental illness because he stays in the relationship, despite knowing his wife will never bear another child? And yet, how could my mother losing the ability to bear children somehow cause my father to develop this illness (since he clearly did not have it 10 years ago, when my mother could bear children).

But wait! you say. My father did not enter into this relatioship knowing the futur; furthermore, when they married his partner was fully capable of bearing his children. Alright then, let's consider a different but similar example.

Suppose my mother had been barren from birth. Do you believe that anyone who feels attracted to my mother (i.e. wants to "procreate with her") in this situation must suffer from a mental illness?

Let's go further. I have a very strong urge to "procreate with" my girlfriend (and, frankly, with a fair number of other females I see every day :P). Note that whether I do or do not follow through on one or any of these desires is unimportant. I also have ZERO (0) desire at this time to pass on my seed. At this time, I don't know if I want to do so in the future. Do you believe I have a mental illness?

The fact is that childbearing is not the sole reason humans seek companionship. If it were, we would never have invented the condom or any other form of birth control. You cannot say that one form of companionship (for example, homosexual) with no possibility of child birth implies mental illness while another form of companionship (for example, heterosexual with birth control or with a barren woman) is perfectly normal.

At a certain level, homosexual relationships ARE different than heterosexual relationships. One involves a man and a woman; the other involves two men or two women. But this does not automatically mean the two must be treated differently.

I am caucasian. My girlfriend is asian. This is, on one level, different than the relationship between my parents. But so what? My girlfriend is a year younger than I am. This is, on one level, different than the relationship between two of my close friends, who are the same age. But so what?

To argue that laws must treat two types of relationships differently, you must offer a reason beyond the difference. As is dealt with in the first half of my post, the ability to bear children is not equivalent to homosexual vs heterosexual. So simply put, you have to do better than that.

One final note: I strongly support your right to believe that homosexuality is a mental illness. However, when we are discussing country-wide or even community-wide laws, your opinion, even if correct, matters little. Mentally retarded people CAN be legally married in many cases.

gekko