Personally, I think that there are allot of views I would rather not have to hear (such as, for example, people using strong negative tones as seen in some of the other comments left here.) but there is a danger in trying to interfere with freedom. If it isn’t freedom for all, it’s not a free country at all.

My personal views on Marriage as a whole is that it is a religious ideal. I think that the Government should not be involved at all in Marriage or Divorce, no matter the gender. People get Married because they love one another, and so they make a contract before their chosen deity to love and cherish one another. That’s the way it is, as it has been for thousands of years.

But in our culture that has changed for a number of practical reasons. Such as Tax Filing, Insurance, and Age Restrictions to Protect Children. These have nothing to do with the Religion or the function of the Family or the Marriage as a whole.

But the more the Government dictates about Marriage, the less Marriage really means. Now you can get Married before a Judge. No temple, no spiritual value, no Religion.

What ever happened to the Seperation of Church and State? Is a Marriage part of Religion, or the Government?

If it’s still of Religion, then leave the Government out of it. If a Preacher wishes to Marry Gays, that’s the choice of the Preacher. If he doesn’t want to, he should have the right to refuse to Marry them just the same.

If it’s Government, then we have already lost the sanctity of Marriage and nothing anyone can do can soil it more.

Speaking for myself, I fail to see the value in Government Marriage. If and when I choose to Marry, whoever that may be, I would not wish it to be before the Judge or Jury but before the Divine. That, even being between a man and a woman, I would choose not to have it legally recognized simply because I believe that the Government should have no right to the Sanctity of what would by my Marriage.

Also, if this video of McCain giving Hugo Chavez and Wesley Clark energetic rimjobs gets out, he may well lose Utah, his clear opposition to gay marriage notwithstanding.

By the way, did you all hear there’s a video showing Obama giving Osama bin Laden a rimjob?! Now, I haven’t seen it yet, but I heard from a friend who says he has and just watch out …

Tybalt-
I thought that was more or less what I was trying to say, albeit a bit more windily.

Plus it’s obviously divisive (both the marriage ruling itself and the amendment to try to block it).

The comment is trivially true.

I realize that a modern Republican, will usually thirst to prohibit by law anything that is not mandatory by law, but rational people permit themselves the luxury of allowing the courts to do what they are supposed to do, and interpret the freaking law.

The *simplest* explanation is that Obama doesn’t want to do anything that would make California a competitive state in November, even if it means, er, complicating his efforts to appeal to the majority of Americans who oppose gay marriage.