Does being adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage make someone a bigot?

[haele]

204. Marriage is about household property rights.

When religion and law were intertwined, the ritualization of marriage was the primary enforcement mechanism - dependent on how strong the influence of religion was on the law. I suspect an authoritarian religion tended to make marriage a holy compact to ensure the social hierarchy will be maintained - your kids won't try to leave the social sphere that they were born into and that you would be less likely to try to be more than what the head of your household is and stray outside your "class". Everyone knows their place.

While less authoritarian religions tended to have a wider concept of what a marriage means and what constitutes a marriage - or who can be married. Secular law turns marriage into a partnership contract to create a household, rather than a religious model for social conformity. So anyone who is able to enter into a contract should be able to establish a marriage partnership, and to apply for dissolution should that partnership not be beneficial to all parties within the household.

Marriage in the US is understood not to be about children, otherwise, there would be stronger laws against divorce when children are involved and against single parenthood, as there are in countries where religion defines law.

If legally, marriage always equaled having children, one might have a case. Since marriage does not equal children, that argument is a non-starter.
Otherwise, no one could legally become married until the woman became pregnant and the father is known.

So, in this and any other country, opposition to same-sex marriage is a religious-based opposition - in effect, religious bigotry - even if your views are structured around how having married parents benefits children.



Haele