Hi Lexi,

Surely you're too young to have ever travelled in a horse and carriage :)

In our democracy, there is a formal separation between church and state. Provided it is in accordance with the human rights laws of the state, getting married in a church is the business of a church. Getting married in a registry office is the businesss of an agency of the state. If we differentiate between 'marriages' sanctioned by churches, and 'civil unions' sanctioned by the state, then the focus of discussion should be on the recognition of same-sex civil unions to be sanctioned by the state. Three cheers for that.

With the proviso above, it is not the business of the state to dictate to churches what they do or don't recognise as 'marriage'. Vice versa, the recognition by the state of church-sanctioned marriages would also be an inappropriate blurring of the state-church boundary. It is not the business of the state to sanction whatever some religious body claims to be recognised or commanded by one of its gods.

But it IS the responsibility of the state to protect the rights of all citizens, to outlaw polygamy, to ensure that girls are not married off below a certain age, that there is some indication of consent, and that men and women have equal rights to marry, divorce and otherwise conduct their lives in accordance with human rights laws.

Joe

Hi Joe,

Yes I am too young for carriages but not for
horses. I've ridden them all my life and love
them dearly.

I fully agree with the separation of church and
state - but the reality is - they're quite firmly
linked in our society. And I suspect that's where
the problem comes in for same-sex couples.

Yes Lexi...Its called the moral stand for sense and tradition, which over-arches all other concerns, and squarely aims at the stability of society collectively!

Dear Diver Dan,

I'm not sure that I'd entirely agree with you
about sense and tradition. There are many
traditions that make no sense and some are
downright awful that we can certainly do without.
You'd have to be more specific.

You know, there is such a simple solution to all this and that is simply call it something other than marriage.

Problem completely solved and we can all get back to life as normal, what ever side of the fence you sit on.

As a suggestion, what about the word Hiched, or perhaps even registered.couple.

Just a thought.

Hay, how about we reverse this rubbish.

A law that makes it illegal for homosexuals to live together, unless they're married.

Now that should lead to some interesting arguments.