This talk about "church's definition of marriage", etc. is a red herring, and just a couched way of saying "we don't like homosexuality and homosexual behavior".
I got married in India. In a ceremony presided over by a local priest. There was no "church" involved. But guess what? No Christian here (in the US) has ever doubted the authenticity of my marriage.
And then I got divorced in the US. The courts here had no problem recognizing my marriage, even though it was performed in some other country, by some unknown religious authority. The officials had no hesitation in breaking up this marriage. Why don't we require the Church's blessing to break up a marriage (I am aware that Catholics have a certain process of appealing to the Pope, but not all churches do)?
If you don't support the idea of the government getting involved in marriage, you shouldn't support the idea of government-approved divorces either! Go to your church and get a divorce!
This talk about "church's definition of marriage", etc. is a red herring, and just a couched way of saying "we don't like homosexuality and homosexual behavior".
I got married in India. In a ceremony presided over by a local priest. There was no "church" involved. But guess what? No Christian here (in the US) has ever doubted the authenticity of my marriage.
And then I got divorced in the US. The courts here had no problem recognizing my marriage, even though it was performed in some other country, by some unknown religious authority. The officials had no hesitation in breaking up this marriage. Why don't we require the Church's blessing to break up a marriage (I am aware that Catholics have a certain process of appealing to the Pope, but not all churches do)?
If you don't support the idea of the government getting involved in marriage, you shouldn't support the idea of government-approved divorces either! Go to your church and get a divorce!