Excuse me a moment please, but I would like to bring up something:
http://news.yahoo.com/reckoning-nears-clerk-resisting-same-sex-marriage-ruling-202230268.htmlI have no idea where to begin on the mess this is. So many issues and such complex stuff that it's just ... wow.
This woman has decided that she can personally disobey the Supreme Court of the United States and override years, nay, decades, of hard fought battles. She does this entirely because she believes it to be wrong, religiously or otherwise. Somehow, there are a lot of people supporting her "religious convictions," and they might gain traction in continuing to pass "religious liberty" laws, which would only benefit them (as opposed to say, any other religion).
How is this a thing?
Can you imagine this happening in any other country today? One person just steadfastly refusing to listen to the government, despite being given decades of chances to be heard, being heard, and failing. No other government would even consider tolerating this kind of thing on any issue. She's an elected official just refusing to do what she swore she would and she's just so genuinely astonished that everyone isn't doing what she wants. This is part of a larger trend where certain people have gotten everything they want, entirely due to their faith for so long, that the idea of not getting whatever they want, is somehow "discrimination."
I'm not going to rant about gay rights anymore, because I've done that before, in depth.
Simply, people are demanding the law adopt their faith and religious beliefs, when those infringe upon the rights of others (while denying this fact). Marriage, even if it is a religious thing, isn't unique to one religion, and there are many definitions across cultures, regions, and faiths. There are religions that have no problem with two gay people getting married.
Some religions ban alcohol; prohibition was tried and failed.
Some religions ban shellfish and pork, so should we ban that?
Some religions ban cow harm, so should we outlaw steak (Sacred Cows)?
Some religions ban beard trimming, so should we outlaw barbers and shaving?
The real question is who defines legally recognized marriages and the answer is the government, not one particular church, because whenever people are asked, "whose religion should be put into law?" they all raise their hands to say "mine" and it's impossible to make all the different religious beliefs ... law.... They conflict.
So now, despite this, it is very possible this woman will be held up as a martyr. She may galvanize the opposition to gay marriage into passing the equivalent of gay jim crow (moreso than there already is). Simply enforcing the law could lead to changing it, in a terrible way.
NOTE:
As of this time, I'm honestly quite overwhelmed with several things and I'm not sure I'll be able to respond to discussions on this post. I apologize for this. Black doctors and nurses have to treat KKK members in emergency rooms. Jewish Lawyers have had to defend Neo Nazis. Their objections were ignored. I just don't get it and I'm hurt by it. It is disheartening to know that you can go through the entire legal process to change the law for your rights, and have somebody just ... not care. And then, then, there's the fact that even if SHE has a personal issue with it, couldn't she at LEAST find somebody else who would be ok with it? I mean is there nobody else in the whole place who could substitute in for her on those cases? She won't even allow that.