Sadly, it was an improvement on what came before, which was no gays people were allowed in the military at all. It was supposed to be a way to let gay people in the military without letting them "act gay" or some such nonsense. You can't make our straight boys nervous, ya know. They might be watched in the shower! It was a pretty stupid law, but at the time I don't think anyone would have passed a law simply allowing gay people into the military.

I'm glad that even the military thought it was time for it to go away. And that it has.

Now if they could get rid of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), which is another anti-gay thing, I'd be thrilled. I want my gay friends to be able to get married!

That would be great but i am guessing the bible belt will have something to say about it. To me now marriage has less to do about religion and everything to do with making a life long commintment to someone you love. Gender has nothing to do with it.

Exactly so. If a church doesn't want to marry two people, then they don't have to. I'm all for granting churches the right to do as THEY wish. But allowing people to marry in some churches who will allow it or through a state ceremony? What's the big deal?

And you're right, the Bible Belt is up in arms over any discussion of gay marriage. More and more people are starting to at least want civil unions (marriages without the title "marriage") and there's starting to be a lot more people just wanting it to go straight to marriage. So...*hopes* I hope that in 50 years we'll look back on our not allowing gay marriage and shake our heads over the ignorance like we do now about old laws not allowing black people and white people to get married.

My country is often very backward.

Its amazing to me that one of the leading powers in the world still has parts of its country so closed off about thinkgs that they dont even teach about Darwin and Evolution!! A girl i knew at school moved to somewhere deep in the belt with her parents, she was really into science and she sent an email once about her class there. They were doing about creation and the teacher asked where certain animals had come to be here so this girl of course when into the theory of evolution and they shot daggers at her. She was told in no uncertain terms that God created the earth and all the creature in it!

I've never heard the term bible belt before.

I'm all for gay people having equal rights in regard to civil partnerships etc.
But for us us bible belters marriage will always be a sacred thing to be enjoyed between man and woman.

To be honest I don't really care too much if gay people want to join legally and call it marriage but the church should never recognise it as such and should never perform same sex ceremonies.

But hey all that's off topic

The "Bible Belt" is a term for an area of the USA that's very conservative Christian. It's not really a term for a person, but more a large swath of the country (midwest and deep south) where those are their values.

As for church's recognizing marriage and performing same sex ceremonies...don't you think that should be left up to the individual church? Maybe yours might not, but there are plenty of more liberal and forward-thinking churches that would gladly marry a same sex couple. I have no problem with a particular church not performing those marriages, but to say ALL churches shouldn't I think is wrong.

Nope i think a christian church should adhere to what the bible says on the issue. I would question to principles of any church that would perform same sex ceremonies. A same sex marriage could never be christian union so i think it should be kept out of the church completley.

Do you then not wear clothing of mixed fibers? Or avoid shrimp? Do you allow divorced people and adulterers into your church? Do you allow people who have cheated to get married again? I mean, if you're going to follow every silly rule of the Old Testament you're going to find your life radically altered. Those were the rules of the time, not because GOD said so, but because man did. And man wrote the Bible down. They might have been writing the word of God, but they added their own slant on it. Man cannot help but do that.

My problem with Christians who want to dictate how every single church of every single sect behaves are that they pick and choose what they want to believe in. You either believe it all or you don't. I know some ministers and priests who would happily marry a couple who loved each other, regardless of their gender. They should have the right to do that and who are YOU to tell them otherwise?

I try my best not to pick and choose and i try to follow every principle they bible teaches. The homosexuality thing is not an old testament rule it is taught against in the new testament too. You are right some of the rules listed in leviticus and other books of the bible were for the people in that time just like many you have listed. And only through study of the scripts can you really get a grasp on what still applies but moral laws havent changed.

I dont wish to dictate what churches do i just would hope christian churches make decisions based upon what the bible teaches.

My problem with gay priests, clergy who support gay marriage in church, christians who dont see homosexuality as sin etc is they are guilty of picking and choosing simply ignoring what they dont like. "You either believe it all or you dont".

Of course legally they could have the right but from a christian view point based on what the bible teaches same sex marriages are wrong. I think its quite fair for me to believe the christian church should adhere to christian values and principles?

Who am i to tell them otherwise? I am a christian who take pleasure in studying the bible and understanding and living out its lessons and teachings.

By the way everybody adulters, divorcees even gays should be allowed into any church.

I was talking about this to someone the other day, and I was getting annoyed by what I thought was a petty attitude, apparently he thinks that they should still be banned, but I think that if I was out there fighting I would want as many people next to me and helping me as possible, no matter gay or straight, as long as we were fighting for the same thing, and I think that if anyone is brave enough to step up and join the milarity they should not have to hide certain things about themselves in order to do this. Apparently this guy was worried about people liking what they saw (I told him no chance) but when I brought up that I had heard of army girls being raped apparently that was there problem, as when looking at boys and girls you can know what your seeing, but I believe that while there is backwards thinking like this there will always be problems when I believe their shouldn't be.

Also on about the marriage, the best thing I have heard from this was on the film I think 'what happens in vagas' when the judge said that gay people are not ruining the sancutary of marriage, but they were (talking about the whole drunk wedding thing), I also think that people who are in love with someone of their own sex is more deserving of a wedding then many people who seem to think that being married is just for fun, I know someone who has been engaged and started planning three weddings, she's twenty, whose worse?