[Jeanette X]

I don't know isn't law about limiting people's freedoms to some extent so that society can function more evenly and fairly? Isn't it accepted to some degree that people don't have the right to make certain choices/?

If that's the case, then perhaps it would be better for families to outlaw divorce entirely.

This is a good response. The only problem is that you could only bring this up if I complained that the rights aren't equal. Which I haven't done. Instead, I've been bringing up reasons why gays shouldn't be allowed to get married.

It's not just about divorce but about the value they attach to their marriage. And it's not just about their marriage, either, it's about the institution of marriage -- which they just happen to be a part of. In effect I think they take it as a type of mockery of their own marriage. Most people don't like it when other people mock things which they hold dear.

If its about preventing marriage from being mocked, then I think that the first point of order would be to shut down the 5 minute wedding chapels in Las Vegas where the marriage is performed by Elvis impersonators rather than to stop gay marriage. Furthermore, if someone mocks a religious person's beliefs, does that mean that they stop going to church? Lord knows religion has been mocked mercilessly in this country, yet fully half of it identifies as Christian.

In i n truth, it's exclusivity may have a large part to do with their feelings on the issue. Do you want to be part of a club that lets everybody in and has no restrictions? And the value society places on it, as well; they think that it shows society holds less of a regard for it. And thus their marriage, which maybe makes them feel bad about themselves.

It isn't a matter of society holding marriage in less regard, it is a matter of them holding marriage in less regard. Would I want to be a part of a club that only let in single Ashkenazi Jewish women with plantar faschitis and anthropology degrees who are stuck in shitty retail jobs? I could be part of it, but what is the point? The exclusion of everyone who isn't like me from the club does not mean that it is somehow a great club to be a part of, its just arbitrary.

I don't really know if marriage is necessarily about people loving each other and being together. If so, a lot of people would never marry.

Marriage is about entering a recognized social contract with a person who you love and want to be with. It is loving a person to the point where you are willing to enter into this legally binding agreement with them.

Maybe part of the reason why we should keep the institution of marriage as cohesive as possible is so that the less stable elements in society will still have something to come together for.

I think we could benefit from the less stable elements of society NOT getting together and raising children.

Sometimes we have to stop wrongs in order to be right

But do you try to intervene and keep people from eating pork and shellfish because of the health risks? Is is your place to say we can't have Red Lobster? The negative health risks from these foods present a more obvious and uncontestable danger to public health than gay marriage ever could, yet there is no controversy surrounding them. Why the double standard?