Gay Marriage …. Again

[naomi24]

With the gay marriage debate taking place tonight in parliament, despite the numerous threads on the subject, I’ve yet to see one valid reason for opposition. Does anyone have one? Please, if you see no problem in it, don’t answer. I just want a valid reason for opposing it – and simply not liking the idea does not qualify as a valid reason.

[ummmm]

No, it's register :-)

[coccinelle]

ummm; I've always known it as a registry office and on checking in the Oxford dictionary I have registry office = register office.

[Octavius]

JoeLuke 'because its wrong' in my mind at least, does not constitute a "valid reason" as requested in the OP.

Perhaps you would like to explain your thinking behind that statement. That is, if there was any 'thought' involved.

[jackthehat]

I'm surprised joeluke's comment was removed.

I expected nothing less from him, but it wasn't particularly offensive.

[AB Editor]

His time here is up.

[Octavius]

Crikey, still wandering the AB Outlands with your scythe then!

[tamborine]

Registrars attend all weddings to record them, except the C of E church

[Khandro]

Go to your local one and look at the nameplate on the wall.

[New Judge]

“Surely the function of parliament is to do what is 'right' for the country.”

No it is not, Khandro. The function of Parliament is to do what the electorate thinks is right for the country. Unfortunately in recent years the voters have been envisaged as far too ignorant to decide on matters of State. Well be that as it may, MPs are elected to Parliament to represent the wishes of their constituents. Alas it was Tony Blair who said, within a short time of taking office, that MPs are there to ensure the executive gets its programme through the House and this view has increasingly taken hold.

“The electorate is not cognisant of what underlies most major issues whereas parliamentarians are, (or should be.) “

Yes they certainly should be but they have shown time and again that they are not. And in any case, once again, it is the will of the people they represent that should sway the day otherwise we need not bother electing MPs. Instead we could simply allow the Prime Minister to appoint an executive and simply ignore the public. This is virtually what happens anyway for four and a half of each five year term and this very issue is testament to that. It was not in either the Conservative or LibDem manifesto; it was not in the Coalition agreement; it was not a matter needing urgent attention; there were not huge swathes of the electorate clamouring for it as most of them would prefer MPs to spend their time on matters of importance to the majority of the country (of which there are plenty) instead of matters which are of limited importance to a small minority.

[modeller]

missnemesis //Modeller I'd be really interested to know how my being married has affected your life? Or that of anybody else for that matter?//
You and the 12 milllion other married families are recognised as the bedrock of a stable nation., establishing the best environment for us all.

[jackthehat]

If marriage is, indeed, such a bedrock for a stable nation, surely allowing more people to take part can only be a good thing, then?

[jim360]

If people are too scared to reveal certain aspects of their family life because other people are judging them... then those people should stop judging them.

[craft1948]

Jack when I asked you some time ago for a reason as to why gay people wanted to be able to get married the only reason you gave was "Because we can't"..................

[jackthehat]

I suspect I was being tongue in cheek, craft. :o)

I'm sure that gay people want to get married for exactly the range of reasons that heterosexuals do.

It's not a matter of 'aping' straight marriage, it is a commitment before friends and family that you desire to be joined to your partner for life.
And there is *no* compunction for any religious establishments to perform the ceremonies, but at the conclusion of the ceremony the participants will be married and not Civil-partnered.

[modeller]

jack Good comment, but you know as well as I do, the governments definition of a stable family consists of a man and a woman.

[jackthehat]

Not for much longer but the look of things....

[jackthehat]

*by the look of things, even....

[sir.prize]

''gay-married'' - you couldn't make it up.

Hold on, someone did . . . . .

[jackthehat]

Put a penny on the arm, sir.prize.........you seem to have got stuck.

[Khandro]

new judge; I really do beg to differ from your simplistic view of politics. If your approach was undertaken by an endless series of referendum, we would certainly see a return to the death penalty in the UK (are you in favour?) also take a look at what the populous would have in Greece and Cyprus vis-a-vis their finances- it would be a blueprint for a disaster. The majority I'm afraid, is most often wrong.