The problem in the issue of gay marriage is that the government stuck it's ugly nose in it. Instead of treating everyone as an individual, the government decided to label people as either white, black, hispanic,... male or female,... rich or poor... gay or strait. whenever you start dividing people up in groups and labeling them you're bound to trigger resentment between many groups of people and the end result is divide and conquer.
"All voluntary contracts should be permissible in a free society" -Ron Paul
The problem in the issue of gay marriage is that the government stuck it's ugly nose in it. Instead of treating everyone as an individual, the government decided to label people as either white, black, hispanic,... male or female,... rich or poor... gay or strait. whenever you start dividing people up in groups and labeling them you're bound to trigger resentment between many groups of people and the end result is divide and conquer.
The government asks people if they're married or single on the census, in their tax returns, on their drivers liscenses, etc. and then the government uses peoples marital status to determine if they qualify for certain government benefits like tax breaks, unemployeement checks, hospital visitation rights, etc.
There are many gay couples in this country who believe they are such a close couple that they might as well already be married, which is fine because they're not hurting anybody. In their eyes, the problem is that the government won't recognize their marriage so they don't qualify for some of the government benefits that strait people do so they have an incentive to rally, and make their voice heard, and lobby the government for what they call, "equal rights". Of course, strait couples aren't too happy about that because they want the benefits for themselves.
The real solution to this problem isn't offered in the current debate as it is framed between liberals and conservatives. The real solution is to philosophically change our idea of what the role of government ought to be. The government shouldn't classify people into groups and divy out the loot according to those classifications. Instead the government should treat everyone as an individual. It is not the proper role of government to decide who is and isn't married. That role is much better left to churches and families. If two people want to declare that they are married and their union doesn't hurt anyone else, it should be permissible in a free society. It's kind of an absurd idea that people need to go ask permission from the government to do anything. We live in a country where you can't be married unless you go to the government and get a marriage liscence. The government should completely stop issuing marriage liscences altogether and the legal code should me made uniform to treat everyone as an individual.
It's crazy that everyone seems to be living in a society where they've come to accept the idea that "you are because the government says you are"
Just because someone never got a birth certificate doesn't mean that person wasn't born. Just because someone doesn't have a government recognized high school diploma doesn't mean that that person isn't well educated. And just because someone doesn't have a marriage license doesn't necessarily mean that person isn't married. If your faith says you're married but your government says you're not, who are you going to believe.
Try this analogy: What if you were born and given a birth certificate that says your name is Steve and that's what it says on all your government documents. Meanwhile you go through your entire life with the name Jack. All your friends and family call you Jack and nobody even knows or cares that your birth certificate says Steve. What is your real name.
Applying this kind of logic to the issue of gay marriage makes it seem silly that it's even an issue being debated. Why is government policy a battleground over whether or not people are married when traditionally, marriage has been an institution of the family and the church, not the state. If two individuals, gay or strait, really love each other, and want to make an agreement to spend the rest of their lives together and have some big ceremony and say that they're married, well whoop-de-do, I guess they're married. Why should they need the government's permission for that and why should they get special treatment from the government for that?