I appreciate the general consensus shown in this thread! You guys are awesome, which I am pleased to see reflected in the game too.
As a Dutch citizen, this discussion is a little alien to me. I've grown up in a community that accepts gay marriages, and this acceptance is the normal, right way to approach this matter.
That being said, I still took an effort to review the standpoint of the opposition. I had the misfortune of being preached in a Texan church against gay marriages and I've read your posts. In all my efforts, I've not seen a single valid point that opposes gay marriage, nor any valid argument to oppose the arguments laid forth by the proponents of gay marriage. I would like to illustrate:
- The arguments originating from the bible all are trivial. A marriage is a legal matter. As church and state are separated, the matter of gay marriage is related to society and the human rights;
- Speaking about human rights, anybody who opposes human rights wants to violate article 1, 2, 7, 16, 21, 22, in particular.
- The matter of opinion, as properly laid forth in this discussion, should be encouraged, as long as this does not lead to interference with the lifes of other people. By definition, if you exercise your opinion and belief to prevent gay marriage, what you accomplish is nothing short of oppression.
- A Texan pastor argued that marriage has never been defined, so the Supreme Court has no authority to redefine it. A similar argument is where only God can define marriage. A point of view that promotes to maintain a certain "status quo", is ignorant of the history of marriage. The church was not always involved in the marriage process. Monogamy, the right to divorce, etc., are concepts established well after Jesus was born. As such, they must have been debated, accepted, rejected or redefined.
- The argument that tolerance cannot be forced, and churches should not be forced to serve gay marriage, is also trivial. A state official has to abide by law and fulfill any marriage license that conforms to the law. Whether churches should or should not, is a different debate. There are enough alternatives to go to.
I notice my arguments draw many similarities to what Deadpool said.
I belief this list rather empties out the arguments I've seen that opponents have put forward. This thread is rather single-sided though, not enough people actually oppose gay marriage to have a thorough debate on the matter.