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TheBaron · 02-26-2004, 01:29 AM

If we are only looking at the argument "all people in the United States have the right to be married because all Americans have the right to pursue happiness", then everyone in America would be guaranteed the right to polygamy and other things. Philosophically speaking, the Mormons are facing descrimination in two ways I) they are unable to practice their religious beliefs and II) they are unable to pursue happiness in their own way. This argument alone is conducive to a slippery slope argument philosophically but the chances of the United States responding to homosexual marriage by allowing people to marry dogs, chickens and corpses is ridiculous.

There are other parts of the constitution that protect homosexuals, though.The fourteenth amendment grants all citizens equality in the eyes of the law.

"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. "

This has been interpretted as "everyone has the right to free speech and no one can have that right abridged unless they did something illegal and have been tried in a court. "

But, there are other civil rights that are importantly protected such as the right of someone to visit their life-partner in the hospital, the right to control through marriage inheritance, and every right that straight people get because they are married. Married people get benefits in the realm of insurance, higher education, etc.

These rights protect homosexual individuals but not those that love animals.

Ultimately I think that homosexual marriage will be legalized like inter-racial marriage, but it will not happen until the majority of Americans accepts the idea (much in the same way eventually Americans accepted inter-racial marriage.)

Getting back to the original argument- the only thing that prevents polygamy is social opinion. Right now homosexual marriage is becoming more and more accepted while polygamy and beatiality still horrify the majority of Americans. It is that public opinion that holds back the flood gates. Eventually people will realize that sexual-orientation is a minor detail and that love and loyalty is more important than social tradition, but until then we need to make sure that we give all people the rights guaranteed them by the constitution- most importantly the right to visit a life-partner in the hospital, etc. Thats where Civil unions come up- its a way of giving homosexual individuals the rights of married people without allowing actual marriage.

BTW thanks for debating with me. Its been fun

02-26-2004, 01:29 AM	#53
TheBaron Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 333	RE:Equal Rights If we are only looking at the argument "all people in the United States have the right to be married because all Americans have the right to pursue happiness", then everyone in America would be guaranteed the right to polygamy and other things. Philosophically speaking, the Mormons are facing descrimination in two ways I) they are unable to practice their religious beliefs and II) they are unable to pursue happiness in their own way. This argument alone is conducive to a slippery slope argument philosophically but the chances of the United States responding to homosexual marriage by allowing people to marry dogs, chickens and corpses is ridiculous. There are other parts of the constitution that protect homosexuals, though.The fourteenth amendment grants all citizens equality in the eyes of the law. "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. " This has been interpretted as "everyone has the right to free speech and no one can have that right abridged unless they did something illegal and have been tried in a court. " But, there are other civil rights that are importantly protected such as the right of someone to visit their life-partner in the hospital, the right to control through marriage inheritance, and every right that straight people get because they are married. Married people get benefits in the realm of insurance, higher education, etc. These rights protect homosexual individuals but not those that love animals. Ultimately I think that homosexual marriage will be legalized like inter-racial marriage, but it will not happen until the majority of Americans accepts the idea (much in the same way eventually Americans accepted inter-racial marriage.) Getting back to the original argument- the only thing that prevents polygamy is social opinion. Right now homosexual marriage is becoming more and more accepted while polygamy and beatiality still horrify the majority of Americans. It is that public opinion that holds back the flood gates. Eventually people will realize that sexual-orientation is a minor detail and that love and loyalty is more important than social tradition, but until then we need to make sure that we give all people the rights guaranteed them by the constitution- most importantly the right to visit a life-partner in the hospital, etc. Thats where Civil unions come up- its a way of giving homosexual individuals the rights of married people without allowing actual marriage. BTW thanks for debating with me. Its been fun __________________ Oh boy!