My Views on Marriage/Gay Marriage

The Bible says God joined together Adam and Eve, a male and a female, in marriage at the beginning.  [The word "marriage" isn't actually used.]  I believe it's the ideal.  My church believes it and I agree with them.  Also, we don't condone the homosexual lifestyle.  But does it mean we have to be completely unsympathetic towards same-sex unions of any kind???

In Canada before gay marriage was legalized, some gays and their lawyers suggested they'd like to have the full legal benefits of marriage but they didn't mind accepting a lower type of status for their unions.--They weren't demanding to be seen in the same light as traditional marriage.  And in my opinion, marriage isn't the status symbol today that it used to be in the past.  [In other words, it doesn't usually matter if a person is single, divorced, or married, etc.]  Some other gays object to a "two-tier" marriage system and it makes them feel inferior.  But for one thing, gay marriage isn't equal to traditional marriage on the point of bearing children.--And not that gay couples can't care for children, especially if there are disadvantaged ones who need fostering or adoption.  [There are many suffering children in the world today!]

If some gays, themselves, have suggested that marriage benefits would be helpful to their lives and if they were willing to have only a civil marriage/civil union or legal partnership, etc., I don't see the harm in giving them what they want [in other countries besides Canada, where we already have the rights].  We need to have some tolerance and understanding for the lives and problems of people who may be different than we are.  [And gays have faced a lot of prejudice and problems with their own issues.]  So far, there has been some confusion because there hasn't been uniformity among the different rights for gays, including legal partnerships and civil unions, etc.  But what I'm supporting is that gays should be allowed to have the full legal benefits of marriage, without the support or involvement of churches, by whatever name they happen to call it.  [And I do feel it shouldn't be seen quite the same as traditional marriage, if I may say so.]