# Arguing against; "The definition of 'Marriage' is between a man and a woman". **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 22, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguing-against-the-definition-of-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman/522231 "2009-12-22T19:47:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguing-against-the-definition-of-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman/522231/241 "2010-02-02T23:34:06Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > My position is that the government has no legitimate interest in forcing any sect to perform, or not perform any religious rite whatsoever. > [@iophobon](#): > > Sorry to jump in this deep into the thread with a question / hijack but I didn’t want to start my own thread to ask. > > In my opinion, the only VALID objection I’ve heard to legal same-sex marriage is that it would force churches belonging to religions that oppose SSM to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. This seems to me to be a complete fantasy scenario but I have heard people mention it. Can anyone comment on the reality of this idea? > > And fyi, even if it were true, meaning I think it is a valid objection, I still think the damage caused would be outweighed by the damage prevented by legalizing SSM. It’s a complete strawman. Nobody is suggesting that any religion should be _forced_ to marry a couple. And that’s not even a change; stroll up to the nearest mormon church and demand that they give you and youre spouse-to-be a proper temple marriage, see how well _that_ works out. So, yeah, **Trisk** ’s concern there is about as sensible as being afraid the unicorns will eat you. ---
**Author:** ![Saganist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Saganist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saganist)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguing-against-the-definition-of-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman/522231/242 "2010-02-03T00:25:44Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > It’s a complete strawman. Nobody is suggesting that any religion should be _forced_ to marry a couple. And that’s not even a change; stroll up to the nearest mormon church and demand that they give you and youre spouse-to-be a proper temple marriage, see how well _that_ works out. > > So, yeah, **Trisk** ’s concern there is about as sensible as being afraid the unicorns will eat you. Good to hear that cleared up. Also, I should note that with a limited amount of googling, it appears prop 8 was sold to its supporters in no small part through this idea of churches being “forced to marry the gays”. So even if it’s completely obvious, it could help to be more overt about this fallacy. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguing-against-the-definition-of-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman/522231/243 "2010-02-13T03:16:44Z")
I got linked to [this](http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/1705/traditionalmarriage1bya.jpg) on another board today, and thought it was definitely worth bumping this thread to post the link to. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguing-against-the-definition-of-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman/522231/244 "2010-02-13T13:25:38Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > I got linked to [this](http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/1705/traditionalmarriage1bya.jpg) on another board today, and thought it was definitely worth bumping this thread to post the link to. Where are all the dinosaurs in that picture? Maybe they didn’t have time to repopulate all of them after caveman Noah saved them from drowning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arguing-against-the-definition-of-marriage-is-between-a-man-and-a-woman/522231.md?page=12)