The coming evangelical collapse

Whenever you dilute something and warp its definition, you defile it. Homosexuality is not marriage. As we try to claim it is, with time it will be considered a hate crime to be against it. Soon, priests will be REQUIRED to officiate at gay "marriages" or suffer the consequences. It pollutes the minds of our children to believe a falsehood as well. It will result in gay adoptions warping the values of young minds. And it opens the floodgates to other "alternative lifestyles." It may not directly at this moment affect my own marriage with my wife, but it will poison the well in the longterm for sure.

I think I am being too literal for my own good. I see marriage in the eyes of the law, as a bond or contract that by its legal definitions gives a couple a certain amount of legal rights that just being together does not provide. Perhaps I should look at the term "marriage" in the broader context, and when I do, I agree with what folks are saying here.
I think I've been doing what I do so long that I strip everything down to its most literal meaning. I guess that's why some religious politicians are ok with "civil unions." And in it's most literal form, that's all a marriage is according to the law. Virtually no (if any) difference, depending on the state. To mee, that's just a difference of semantics, but whatever people are ok with is ok with me.

And I guess religion has always had an interest in how the state (broad use of the word "state") writes its laws. If there really was a total separation of church and state, this country would look a lot different than it does now.

Although if a priest were ever "required" to do anything like that, we've lost our country.

Whenever you dilute something and warp its definition, you defile it. Homosexuality is not marriage. As we try to claim it is, with time it will be considered a hate crime to be against it. Soon, priests will be REQUIRED to officiate at gay "marriages" or suffer the consequences. It pollutes the minds of our children to believe a falsehood as well. It will result in gay adoptions warping the values of young minds. And it opens the floodgates to other "alternative lifestyles." It may not directly at this moment affect my own marriage with my wife, but it will poison the well in the longterm for sure.

Very well stated just to add to it this is already happening. I stated on another thread several lawsuits, court decisions, and current laws being debated on another thread. Several churches are already being sued for refusing to rent their halls to same sex couple's ceremony. A California court case already ruled the RCC and Baptist church preaching that same sex sexual behavior and unions is a sin is hate speech. A California law passed made it illegal for the Catholic church to turn down a same sex couple in a partnership that want to adopt through them. Currently in Kansas, a state that has outlawed gay marriage and gay civil unions, there is a law being debated that would make it a violation of civil rights for a Church to refuse there place of worship to a same sex couple for that couple's partnership/ commitment ceremony.

Yep. Last year my priest and I discussed the future of Orthodox Church's especially their clergy, being forced to marry same-sex couples. It's not "if," it's "when," so we need to be prepared for that. My priest said he's not going to do it, so he said he'll just have to be thrown in jail or whatever.

And the government forcing churches to do whatever like you stated above, graceful, is most definitely a violation of the separation of Church and State. It's been happening, as you said, for quite a while. Sad to say, but reality of this world.

Your priest sounds like my priest, Father George. Hades will freeze over when he "marries" two dudes. Not happenin...

Yep. Last year my priest and I discussed the future of Orthodox Church's especially their clergy, being forced to marry same-sex couples. It's not "if," it's "when," so we need to be prepared for that. My priest said he's not going to do it, so he said he'll just have to be thrown in jail or whatever.

And the government forcing churches to do whatever like you stated above, graceful, is most definitely a violation of the separation of Church and State. It's been happening, as you said, for quite a while. Sad to say, but reality of this world.

See this is where I disagree with others. So many think the best way to stop this is the state just get out of the marriage business. That is never going to happen, there is just way too much power for the state over us if we have to go to them for permission to marry. If we have to prove to them we are married for taxes, insurance, retirement. Personally I think The Church should stop acting as agents of the state in filling out licenses or even requiring them to marry their members. Harsh way of wording that I know, but that is how I see it. The Church should just say, "okay marriage is a sacrament, so we will offer this to our faithful who are still in communion and good standing in The Church. Who are able to marry in the Church and want to marry, but we will no longer have anything to do with marriage licenses." My priest agreed and said that really is the only way we will be able to protect ourselves. When we discussed this he stated there were actually several priests who already proposed this very thought to be discussed.

Yep. Last year my priest and I discussed the future of Orthodox Church's especially their clergy, being forced to marry same-sex couples. It's not "if," it's "when," so we need to be prepared for that. My priest said he's not going to do it, so he said he'll just have to be thrown in jail or whatever.

And the government forcing churches to do whatever like you stated above, graceful, is most definitely a violation of the separation of Church and State. It's been happening, as you said, for quite a while. Sad to say, but reality of this world.