# Gay marriage proponents as dangerous to America as terrorists? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 3, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209 "2004-03-03T01:19:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/21 "2004-03-03T06:09:32Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Less _Will and Grace_ and more ‘reading comprehension’ is my prescription for you. Islamic terrorism can hurt us, certainly, but it is hard to envision a scenario where they can destroy our society. Gay marriage, on the other hand, will fundamentally change the fabric of our society, and not for the better, as [most people seem to agree.](http://www.gallup.com/poll/focus/sr040127.asp) Even if you don’t agree with the principlel, it isn’t hard to see the logic behind the idea. How, exactly, will it change American society for the _worse_? Everyone on your side keeps saying that, but no one can provide any sort of example of what sort of horrible thing is supposed to happen if SSM is legalized. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/22 "2004-03-03T06:11:43Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Less _Will and Grace_ and more ‘reading comprehension’ is my prescription for you. Islamic terrorism can hurt us, certainly, but it is hard to envision a scenario where they can destroy our society. Gay marriage, on the other hand, will fundamentally change the fabric of our society, and not for the better, as [most people seem to agree.](http://www.gallup.com/poll/focus/sr040127.asp) Even if you don’t agree with the principlel, it isn’t hard to see the logic behind the idea. I’ll wager that homophobes have killed more people that terrorists have. ---
**Author:** ![MrTuffPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MrTuffPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrTuffPaws)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/23 "2004-03-03T06:13:35Z")
Hey Brutus: Being in the pit, I offer this to you one more time. FUCK YOU!!! Take your fucking bigoted ass and shove a constitutional law book up it. As said by hajario > [@](#): > > In my opinion, gay marriage opponents are as dangerous to American and the segregationists were. Fortunately, the segregationists were defeated. These guys will be too. It may take longer than we would like but they will be. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/24 "2004-03-03T06:20:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > How, exactly, will it change American society for the _worse_? Everyone on your side keeps saying that, but no one can provide any sort of example of what sort of horrible thing is supposed to happen if SSM is legalized. If that final link in my OP is any consideration, I think they’re afraid of that bogeyman of bogeymen, CONVERSION. _Insert toaster joke here_ ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/25 "2004-03-03T06:21:57Z")
Oh, don’t mind **Brutus** , just pouting about those new shoes. Poor dear didn’t even realize that they are just _sooo_ last year! Run along, now, **Brutus** , dear. Play some of your Judy Garland CD’s and you’ll feel all better! Kiss kiss! ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/26 "2004-03-03T06:46:50Z")
Aww comon everyone knows if we make SSM legal we’ll all be forced to be metro sexual or become outcast second class citizens in our own society. Do you want to live in a world with that much hair gel??? I know I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/27 "2004-03-03T06:52:05Z")
Can I be a metro sexual and still buy my white socks by the bag at K-Mart? If I’m a metro sexual, and I meet a hot young chickita, she won’t call me “sir”? I gotta know more about this shit before I make a committment, you know? Tough enough being just a plain ol’ horn-dog, without complicating things. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/28 "2004-03-03T06:57:11Z")
If renouncing bigotry by implementing same-sex marriage will bring American society to its knees (not in a good way), wouldn’t that mean that that society would have to be entirely founded on bigotry? That seems like an extremely anti-American position to hold. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/29 "2004-03-03T07:43:10Z")
> [@Legolamb](#): > > **Brutus** would you mind explaining how gay marriage will so fundamentally change the fabric of American society that it will destroy it? He can’t. He hasn’t got a clue. Why he’s so vehemently against gay marriage is anybody’s guess. Mine is that he’s just plain dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/30 "2004-03-03T12:27:21Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Gay marriage, on the other hand, will fundamentally change the fabric of our society, and not for the better What is your reasoning behind this statement (particularly the “not for the better” part)? ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/31 "2004-03-03T12:35:42Z")
It is quite some time since I saw **Brutus** enjoin a debate in earnest good faith. These days he simply tends to drive by, empty his nappy and leave. Still, I too would like to hear his reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/32 "2004-03-03T12:36:37Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > I too would like to hear his reasoning. Me too, if he had any. Since he doesn’t, I prefer his current mode of operation. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/33 "2004-03-03T14:43:13Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > He can’t. He hasn’t got a clue. Why he’s so vehemently against gay marriage is anybody’s guess. Mine is that he’s just plain dumb. Oh, he’s not just _plain_ dumb. He’s dumb and _mean_. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/34 "2004-03-03T15:19:03Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I agree with the sentiments linked to in the OP. It’s only a matter of time before someone tries to pilot a gay marriage into a skyscraper. Damn. I just spit my VitaminWater all over my monitor. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/35 "2004-03-03T15:39:01Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > How, exactly, will it change American society for the _worse_? Everyone on your side keeps saying that, but no one can provide any sort of example of what sort of horrible thing is supposed to happen if SSM is legalized. Well, it’s clear, really. There will ensue mass “confusion” about what marriage means. The less mentally agile amongst us may well end up trying to drive random strangers home, under the illusion that they are our spouses. Andrew Sacks’ book will no longer have a humourous title. Suddenly unable to comprehend the meaning of their wedding vows, our demand for renewal services will take on furious proportions, and speech writers capable of telling the difference between love and, say, hamburgers or ocelots will be hugely popular. The resulting downward pressure on the ocelot population, combined with the fall in McDonalds profits will undoubtedly cause the end of society as we know it, as feral buzzards tear apart the very fabric of our parkas and the SUV lays down with the Honda hybrid thingie. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/36 "2004-03-03T15:47:36Z")
The sad thing is, even though there is no good reason to be against gay marriage, 50% of the people you meet are against it. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/37 "2004-03-03T15:49:50Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > …Still, I too would like to hear his reasoning. 1. Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman. As a society, we give that institution special privileges so that they may better raise children. Nothing else. We don’t give them benefits so that they can better show their undying love for one and other, we want to give that ‘family unit’ a bit of a break, to better raise the next generation of to-be married men and women. Circular thinking, but fundamental to the survival of any society. In the interests of fairness, I wouldn’t be opposed to taking away the ‘benefits’ of legal marriage to couples, to be reinstated upon the birth of children. That would have the added bonus of either saving the gov’t some money, or allowing those benefits to be more generous. 1. Judicial activism sucks. Sure, you are all grins and happiness that this particular (Mass. decision) ruling is in favor of something you support. When a judge passes down a ruling that radically changes something that you find objectionable, and you are faced with little, if any, recourse, I will try not to give you a ‘I told you so’ grin. If it is a worthy and just cause, it can and should be put to the people through our regular channels. Vote for politicians that reflect your views. Put referendums and whatnot on the ballot. Trying to sneak it in through judicial fiat just pisses off those sitting on the fence, and will more than likely hurt your cause in the longterm. 1. Heterosexual marriage is an ancient institution in the Western world. And while some minutiae may have changed over the millenia, the base institution, that of one man and one woman, remains unchanged. (Old school Mormons excepted!) Without any good arguments put forth by gay people as to why the state should deem fit to grant them the child-rearing benefits of straight couples, I do not see a reason to change. The very crux of ‘conservatism’: Don’t change without a damned good reason to do so. 2. Once I see the majority of arguments are of the ‘You are a bigot, blah blah blah’, or ‘Homophobe!, blah blah blah’ variety, I recognize that there isn’t really a good reason for changing marriage. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/38 "2004-03-03T15:59:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman. Arbitrarily. > [@](#): > > As a society, we give that institution special privileges so that they may better raise children. Infertile couples? > [@](#): > > Judicial activism sucks. This is about your objections to gay marriage itself, not red herrings about the mechanism of legalising it. > [@](#): > > Heterosexual marriage is an ancient institution in the Western world. Classic [argument ad antiquitatem](http://www.infidels.org/news/atheism/logic.html#antiquitatem) fallacy. > [@](#): > > Once I see the majority of arguments are of the ‘You are a bigot, blah blah blah’, or ‘Homophobe!, blah blah blah’ variety, I recognize that there isn’t really a good reason for changing marriage. I do not even understand this as “reasoning” _per se_. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/39 "2004-03-03T16:03:04Z")
And you must still furnish some support for your belief that “society will be changed forthe worse”. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209/40 "2004-03-03T16:03:19Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > 1. Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman. As a society, we give that institution special privileges so that they may better raise children. Nothing else. We don’t give them benefits so that they can better show their undying love for one and other, we want to give that ‘family unit’ a bit of a break, to better raise the next generation of to-be married men and women. Circular thinking, but fundamental to the survival of any society. > > In the interests of fairness, I wouldn’t be opposed to taking away the ‘benefits’ of legal marriage to couples, to be reinstated upon the birth of children. Well, you say you’re not a bigot, so you must support full marriage rights for gay couples who are raising children, correct? You heard it here, folks: **Brutus** supports same-sex marriage as long as the gay spouses function as parents. That’s a very progressive attitude for you to hold, **Brutus**. I’m impressed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-marriage-proponents-as-dangerous-to-america-as-terrorists/232209.md?page=3)