I understand the motivation, i.e. get young males stabilized into family units as quickly as possible and off the streets where they randomly impregnate women and break laws. Get them working in jobs to support the woman and kids, paying taxes and generally being an upstanding member of society.

This world view as always struck me as one possessed by scared old men. Afraid of the raw energy of large numbers of unfocused young men, they position the thing that most young men care most about behind a commitment not only to the object of their lust, but a commitment to society to settle down and get a job and get off the old people’s lawns.

Part of the problem is, they lost young women a long time ago. When women were little more than property, it was much easier to restrict access to her sexually. Now they are equal members of society, and long ago gave up the indoctrination that all sex is dirty, only to be offered up grudgingly, never enjoyed, and only in exchange for commitment on the man’s part to living a life young men don’t want to live. Now women actually enjoy sex on their own terms, and are lowering the hurdles for access.

Part of the problem right wing nutbags have with condoning homosexual relationships, is exactly what I pointed out above. Card, and others like him, think that those dirty homosexuals can’t feel normal human feelings of commitment and love and nurturing, and that all gay relationships are driven only by lust for hot, sweaty, beefy, man loving.

That kind of sexual activity, when not attached to ball-and-chain commitments to society (which it can’t be because homos can’t possibly honor those commitments), can only lead to rampant social decay. Free from the social constraints placed on other young men, and every married older man, these homosexuals will have unlimited time and energy to have deliciously dirty man sex, and lure our young men into their dirty conspiracy of free and easy drugs and sex. No young man could possibly resist the offer of unlimited man sex, especially if girls aren’t giving it up for anything less than marriage. Soon homos will be everywhere. In our schools, on TV, in music. Enticing every young man to go the gay way. Soon, no one will hold jobs because they will have no women or children to support. There will be roving gay rape gangs prowling the streets looking for any straight man they can find. The birth rate will fall to zero, and mankind will perish before Jesus can make his triumphant return to earth.

You’re exactly right. If the church embraced the idea of doing the same thing to “bottoms” as it does to girls, i.e. encourage them not to give it up unless there’s a ring on your finger, and allows for gay adoption to cement those commitments and drive a need for steady income the problem could be solved.

But that of course would require viewing gay people as capable of making long term emotional commitments. Which they don’t, as gay people have “chosen” to be gay, thus already circumventing the system. Why would they rejoin it? The siren song of free and easy man sex is so sweet, so tempting. How could one leave it after having tasted it’s sweet fruit?

Also – let me say – as a card-carrying member of the clergy – that we need gay-marriage in this country in order to save, dare I suggest, to protect marriage. It is my hope that gay marriage will stimulate a re-assessment of what marriage is in this country – to move it from a place where marriage is understood as little more than thinly veiled church / state / society sanctioned fucking, back to a far more healthy place where marriage involves a mutual life long commitment of stability, love and nurture – oh and fucking. As soon as the immoral majority can admit that marriage is about more than sex, we will be making progress. Unfortunately, it seems obvious that what the rightwing whack-jobs are really afraid of is that gay people do things that they think are “icky.” And because they do “icky” things – we certainly can’t ask the little baby Jesus to sanction their “ickyness.” And to hell with the idea that marriage is about a lot more than just doing the “icky.” Therefore – we need gay marriage to come and protect marriage from marriage as envisioned by the right-wing nut-jobs.

After all… “4 out of 5 Baptist divorcés would like gays to stop undermining the sanctity of marriage.”

Agreed 100%.