++'you may not understand the awesome responsibility it is to shape impressionable and vulnerable children."
I'll take a good role model who doesn't recognize their importance as such over a hateful little black-hearted goblin that delights in it any day, pal.
+"You obviously disagreed with the fact that I referred to your "marriage" in quotation marks. I am not trying to be offensive"
Yes. You were.
++"yet appeal that you recognize truth can offend sensibilities of those choosing to reject it."
Sometimes I think you idiots say these things on purpose...
++"Ellen, a nation rises or falls on marriage."
False. This is not the 12th century. We don't govern through arranged marriages between autocrats anymore.
++"If we dismantle this pillar of society, as it has existed for over 5000 years of Western civilization "
PFFT! WOW! You went full retard, huh? Hell, I think you may have even overshot it.
++"what will be the consequences for this sacred institution "
Nothing of note.
++"and the future of our nation"
Cultural progress.
++"Marriage is and throughout history has always been the union of a man and a woman, regardless of what the courts say "
And apparently even regardless of what actual world history -- and even your worthless fucking fairy tale book -- have to say on the matter, too.
++"and regardless of how much you and Portia feel affection for each other"
So then you admit that the concept as you understand it is flawed at its very heart.
++'1. It violates the clear and unambiguous moral teaching of the Scriptures, which serve as the basis for our Judeo-Christian laws and foundations as a nation. "
Wrong.
++"2. It is contradictory to the self-evident truths of "Mother Nature" or "Nature's God" (as our Founding Fathers expressed it) wherein men and women are designed and function differently, complement and complete each other, and through the wonder of marital union are able to procreate to perpetuate the human race."
Wrong again.
++"3. It is contrary to the explicit teaching of every major world religion, which upholds the integrity of marriage and family".
Say it with me...
++"4. It is an injustice and unequivocably harmful arrangement wherein our most precious entrustment, our children, are denied the love and nurture of a father and a mother who complement each other in a healthy family."
Once more, with feeling.
"5. It redefines and devalues the sacred institution of marriage exclusively between a man and a woman, opens the floodgates for other arrangements and legitimizes a lifestyle replete with dangerous, at-risk sexual behavior such as HIV/AIDS and over 30 STDs that are endangering lives, jeopardizing healthcare and impacting our economy."
Wrong yet again and you should be ashamed of yourself. Not just for being a total asshat but for utterly failing to do the slightest bit of research into the topics you're speaking on & the documents you're citing or to even understand how one goes about making a proper argument for something in the first place.
1-- The "clear and unambiguous moral teachings of the scriptures" (which are no such fucking thing) are wholly irrelevant to our SECULAR laws, which are NOT based on Judeo-Christian religious law. Our original constitution actually conflicts with those laws in places.
2-- Whether something contradicts a "truth" of nature is irrelevant to whether it is acceptable or legal. The ability to have a face-to-face talk with someone on the other side of the planet contradicts the sort of "natural truths" you like to cite. I don't see you decrying the evils of video chat. Furthermore, to call these "truths" self-evident only makes them all the more meaningless as, bereft as they are of any logical base, they become wholly subject to the whims and biases of the observer.
And I'd really love to see the evidence for the necessity of marriage in procreation. So very, very many teenage parents (and the entirety of nearly ever single other species on the planet) would attest otherwise.
3-- Not only is this meaningless both legally and culturally but it's also incorrect, to boot. There are plenty of popular spiritual philosophies and religious sects that accept marriage equality. Just because your particular flavor of a single religion doesn't is hardly a basis for claiming that no other does.
4-- CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE A FUCKING RIGHT TO HAVE TWO PARENTS OF OPPOSITE SEX, YOU BRAINDEAD MOTHERFUCKER! You are not born with a "right" to a specific family structure any more than you're born with a RIGHT to have a specific person as a parent! The only thing children have to right to so far as their parent or parents are concerned is their right to be provided for and taken care of, which homosexuals are perfectly capable of. But that hardly needs to be said since you can't even support your assertions in the first place. Most of your so-called points are just the same one repeated over and over and you couldn't even support it the first time.
5-- Redefinition of a concept does not devalue it, marriage is not a sacred institution because it is not a religious institution in the first place (just because you grabbed ahold of it and screaming "MINE" like a petulant four-year-old doesn't make it yours), it has never been exclusively binary, whether other likewise marginalized or oppressed groups will finally receive legal recognition by the government is immaterial to the matter at hand and the only thing making the homosexual "lifestyle" dangerous is evil little fucks like you who devote their lives to purposefully spreading their misinformation & hatred far & wide.
Do the whole world a favor and go take a nap on a train track.