RE: Just plain vote!
C-m would kill me for doing this again, but yeah, I have to do it. This is my personal stand:
I'm a Catholic. Catholicism, and most other denominations of Christianity or other religions for that matter, are generally against the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Personally, I have no opinion on this. I am heterosexual, and I've never known a single homosexual in real life, so I can't say what it is. I suppose homosexuality is more toned down (if not, kept in the dark) in an Asian society. After all, Asian culture is generally more conservative than Western culture, with the latter being more open to changes, and being more outspoken in fighting for human rights.
While I am not in the position to comment on the so-called "morality" of homosexuality, I must admit that I have to disagree with my religion's current stand on fighting the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. This does not mean that I'm not a holy follower of Jesus Christ. Well, then again, I'm not a fanatic, I just live my life doing what I do, applying my values that I have been taught in Church or by my family, but that does not mean that I go around forcing the religion on others.
I have never believed in forceful evangelisation. All along, there are those devoted followers of god (the positive name) and fanatics (the negative name) going around asking people to go out on the street and grab people to join your church. Once I was walking near the Tower of London when a young woman approached my mother and asked "do you know about God?" She cornered my mother for a full ten minutes talking about the wonders of Jesus Christ while I waited to enter the tourist attraction. In the end, we had to cancel our plans and we returned to our hotel.
At school, I have classmates going around "hey wanna go to my church". Not only one classmate, for that matter. Some Christians (Protestant denominations of course, not the lazy Catholics like me) go around doing that. I am still an opposer of forcing the religion on other people. I believe everyone has a right to believe in what they want, and no one of a different religion should be discriminated for being a part of another religion, no one that is religious should ridicule an athiest, and no athiest should condemn the religious for being foolish and believing in an old man in the sky when the Theory of Evolution sounds so much better.
This is a free world. People are entitled to what they want. And therefore, this is why I do not believe that same-sex marriage should be banned at all. Even though I do understand my religion's rules and will continue to follow it, even though it doesn't make sense that much to me, I think, as I said before, that this should not make us impose our rules on others. We should not go all out and make life difficult for others. They have their right to feel what they want. It's in their nature to feel that way. Let's say you were born person. You can't change that retardedness, can you?
What I'm trying to say is, if you have a religion, by all means, continue to be religious, and follow what is good, not whatever your religion tells you. If your church minister tells you to go out and kill the Pope in the name of Jesus for the Pope in the Antichrist, will you do it? If a religious figure at any place of worship tells you to go and murder the child of that unmarried couple, will you do it? Don't follow things blindly.
I remain a Catholic because the religion has been instilled in me since I was born and I'm not going to waste my time changing my life just to satisfy the athiests out there who want no old men in the sky, or the Protestants who want the Pope down. Why should I make the effort to go all out and become an athiest, when practicing my religion is part of my daily habit? It's my choice, and I want it that way. Why should any of you impose your views on others? This is the key reason why religious topics are disallowed on this forum, which is meant to be family-friendly.
Personally, I am against the idea of sperm banks, as after all, the egg does not belong to one of the parents. I have never looked upon divorced couples well, not because of religion, mind you, but for the sake of the child. You may say that the child may be able to still lead a normal life, and that adoption is basically the same thing, but remember that children were adopted as they were doomed to poverty anyway, while children with separated parents were innocent.
Then again, I am unable to understand the Church's view on abortion. In the case of a sexual assault, would not it be fair for a woman to apply for an abortion. Once again, this is why I say, don't believe foolishly in whatever your religion says. Religion today has been corrupted so much by humans that it's not it once originally was. Or was it created by humans anyway? I don't know, but I don't care either. It's what I am, and it doesn't hurt anyone, so I'll stay this way.
