California's top court overturns gay marriage ban

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Wow. That's a rather simplistic and naive approach that ignores the fundamental question -- why do you believe what you believe.

It's simple enough to say "do YOU believe gays should have civil unions" or "do YOU believe these civil unions should bear the name of 'marriage,'" but whether the answer is "yes" or "no," the next question is "why?"

Why is it crap to answer the "why" with "because the Bible/Scripture/my religion teach me so and I accept that teaching"? Why is it not a belief if there's reliance on the Bible?

Sure, there are plenty of people out there who take the Bible -- or any other "source" -- at face value and merely parrot it when stating their own views. There are people who reject any religious teaching as superstition. But there are also plenty of people who ask the tough questions, who doubt and who {gasp} think who come to the reasoned conclusion that they, in your words, "believe in what the book believes in" because they believe the book. For those people, making a distinction between speaking for yourself and speaking from the book is nonsense.

yes, but if you believe in the book, you should be aware of it, and therefor state your beliefs based on that. Not rely on what the book says, but your own beliefs. For example, if you believe in the bible, you believe that gay marriage is immoral and not right. THAT IS A BELIEF, one based on the bible. You would not say you do not believe in gay marriage because of this quote here in the bible that tells me to not believe in it.

This discussion is based on individual beliefs, and if christianity plays into it, great! but quoting the bible and building a defense on a quote from a book is irrelevant. This tatic is an overused defense for people who are a) not sure what they believe in, b) merely fear the bible or God, or c) do not know how to articulate why they believe it.

I think religious beliefs are great, and shape who we are, but if you truly believe in the Bible or God, you should be able to explain your beliefs on something such as on gay marriage without quoting the bible.