991–1000 of 1001 posts
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That would require humans to have existed before religion, which is frankly quite ridiculous.
You don't think that there were humans that existed before any form of codified spirituality? I'd be willing to believe that explicit ritual bonding (marriage) didn't predate religion, but find it hard to believe that the first words we uttered went along with some sort of priestly social class or referenceable rules for living.
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That would require humans to have existed before religion, which is frankly quite ridiculous.
Are we supposing religious monkeys now? It wouldn't surprise me if earlier hominids were religious as well, but to call any other possibility "quite ridiculous" is really overstepping.
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You don't need permission from the government to marry, you can do it yourself in the woods. But if you want all the benefits of a government sanctioned marriage then you have to be married in the eyes of the government.
That's why the government version shouldn't be called marriage.
However to make that equivalently semantic "government version" union would require changing of a large amount of legal text (e.g. taxation legislation). If the "government version" was simply a stand-in for "married" (i.e., reusing the variable) then what difference has been achieved even semantically?
Well, I know I'm probably a minority in saying this, but I'm disappointed - not because I don't think everyone should have access to the government rights attached to marriage, but because it seems our country doesn't actually want to fix problems at the root. What is the root problem? People on both sides of the debate agree (if given the option) that the government probably never should have messed with marriage, a…
Is it possible that LGBT marriage rights were officially recognized because it was becoming apparent that the next step was to strip religion out of the discourse? Thereby losing a valuable beachhead in society? Nah. To conspiracy theory-ish.
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> Polygamy is a Christian institution. It was pointedly prescribed in the old testament. Correction: "Christian" refers to Jesus Christ, which does not appear in the old testament. Catholics, Ortodoxes and many protestant churches are against polygamy.
I'm not sure how to respond to this. Have you noticed that every complete Bible contains the Old Testament, including the Pentateuch in its entirety? Old Testament law and prophesy is woven deeply in the fabric of the gospels and of Paul's letters. And while most modern churches have chosen to interpret Paul's prescription for monogomy strictly, some Christian churches and cultures continue to embrace polygamy.
Yes, I already had noticed this.
> Old Testament law and prophesy is woven deeply in the fabric of the gospels and of Paul's letters.
Just for curiosity, have you ever happened to actually read the Bible? There are plenty of prescriptions in the Old Testament that are not followed by Jesus. Jesus presented himself as "The Truth", and he often said he was giving "a new commandment". To rest on Saturday, to stone an adulteress, to be forced to marry your brother's widow have never been Christian commandments. And polygamy enters in this list.
The fact that for a small amount of time a small minority of Mormons (a small minority in the Christian world, less than 1% of the total) have accepted polygamy does not make this practice "Christian". Otherwise, if one follows the same line of reasoning, encyclopaedias should classify deers as "omnivorous", because in extreme conditions there have been reports of deers eating frogs and small mammals...
EDIT: minor edits.
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10 years from now. HN Headline: Polygamy upheld by supreme court Comment: While this is excellent news for my polygamous friends, I see no progress on [insert new deviation here]. --- So what do you all think will be the next big thing?
Incest amongst consenting adults.
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I'm not sure how to respond to this. Have you noticed that every complete Bible contains the Old Testament, including the Pentateuch in its entirety? Old Testament law and prophesy is woven deeply in the fabric of the gospels and of Paul's letters. And while most modern churches have chosen to interpret Paul's prescription for monogomy strictly, some Christian churches and cultures continue to embrace polygamy.
> Have you noticed that every complete Bible contains the Old Testament, including the Pentateuch in its entirety? Yes, I already had noticed this. > Old Testament law and prophesy is woven deeply in the fabric of the gospels and of Paul's letters. Just for curiosity, have you ever happened to actually read the Bible? There are plenty of prescriptions in the Old Testament that are not followed by Jesus. Jesus present…
Honest question: Do gay couples have to commit adultery to produce children? — OR — Rely on straight couples to produce children whom they can adopt?
Adultery isn't a problem if it's performed with the consent of the spouse. There are tons of open marriages out there.
Honest question: Do gay couples have to commit adultery to produce children? — OR — Rely on straight couples to produce children whom they can adopt?