Same-sex marriage: Civil rights issue?

November 6, 2008 | Vetting explained

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Last updated: November 7, 2008

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This is John Riolo and welcome to my civil discourse blog http://psychjourney_blogs.typepad.com/your_advocate_online/ My personal take on same sex marriage is this. It’s not my business who marries who. However having said that I also recognize that from the beginning of civilized societies, all societies have rules and law about who can marry who. I’m either blessed or curses in that I tend to see both sides of an issue or at least can see how people who differ from me see things. My liberal and some but not all of my gay friends see same sex marriage as a civil rights issue. My conservative friends see gay marriage as fundamentally altering society and or a violation of religious tradition. Well I am going to upset both sides. It’s neither. I doubt a loving god would care and society will not crumble. However I think it’s a stretch to try to make it about civil rights. Marriage is little more than a license. It is a privilege given by the state and like a drivers license or any other type of license the state can set up rules and criteria. Good peoplecan disagree about whether these rules are fair, equitable and useful. That's what we have laws and courts to decide. But if both sides would dial down the rhetoric we all would be better off.

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Your thoughts on same-sex marriage

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