Although many religious conservatives wish it would, the issue of Gay marriage will not go away. This is particularly now that the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down state anti-sodomy laws as unconstitutional and in light of the Michigan state Supreme CourtÆs ruling that prohibiting marriage between same-sex couples violates their constitutional rights. Nevertheless, the issue of gay marriage is the most controversial and hotly contested issue in America society since the legalizing of abortion. Overall Americans are split down the middle when it comes to opposing or favoring granting legal marriage status to gay couples, according to a recent survey by the Pew Forum (Pew 2004). However, religious conservatives and pro-family values activists are strongly opposed to such status being granted to homosexuals, including President Bush who has proposed a constitutional amendment mandating such status be granted only to a man and a woman and the Pope who has declared ôsame sex marriages immoral,ö (Amundson 2004, 1). Despite such opposition to granting legal marriage status and rights to same sex couples, it is constitutional law that dictates such status and rights in U.S. society and not biblical law. As such, gay couples who wish to marry should be afforded the same rights as other married couples.
There are many religious objections and arguments against gay marriage. Among these are the belief that gay couples are unnatural, marriages is sacred and a sacrament, the primary purpose of marriage is procreation, and marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman. For example, many point to biblical scripture when arguing against gay marriage. Most religious opponents to gay scripture cite two passages from Old Testament Scripture as proof of their point-of-view. The first of these is Leviticus 20:13: ôIf a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to...