i applaud this column, if we have no compassion for other humans - we might as well be animals.

wow, that was an incredibly heartless statement.

well out comes the hate and a few spare rational comments.

People have the freedom to their opinions, but this is Legislation we are talking about not what is going to be performed at the church.

Your religion, no matter what it is, is between you and your God and has no place guiding the government. If you think homosexuals are sinners, that is your opinion and perhaps you are right and they will burn in hell. But they are still americans and deserve the same basic rights as you and I.

What is so wrong with love and the rights that marriage gives to a couple? Is it going to hurt you or your family if same sex marriages happen?

No religion has the right to control the government, this is a country based on freedom. This has been the case since the amendments were written.

I know this will only spur more quotations and hate, this is obviously a sore subject. But hopefully our government will do the right thing by the constitution and not by the Bible. I have nothing against the Bible, but there are more religions and opinions in American than just one. America is not a church, it is a free country filled with many churches and that is what makes us a wonderful FREE country.

Please feel free to have your faith, feel free to speak your peace, but do so with humility and respect.

i am going to say the same thing i said yesterday...

In the end, you can not stop them from loving one another. All you are doing is denying them the same rights you take for granted. They are not asking for your approval, they are not asking if they can continue to be gay, they are asking for basic legal rights.

do you really think they deserve to be denied what all americans are entitled to?

and all this arguing over this bill does not matter, if denied, it is not going to give gays any rights -it already states in NC Law (though I do not agree with this)

§ 51‑1.2. Marriages between persons of the same gender not valid.

Marriages, whether created by common law, contracted, or performed outside of North Carolina, between individuals of the same gender are not valid in North Carolina. (1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 588, s. 1.)

but sadly there is also these

§ 51‑3.1. Interracial marriages validated.

All interracial marriages that were declared void by statute or a court of competent jurisdiction prior to March 24, 1977, are hereby validated. The parties to such interracial marriages are deemed to be lawfully married, provided that the provisions of this Chapter have been complied with. (1977, c. 107, s. 2.)

§ 51‑5. Marriages between slaves validated.

Persons, both or one of whom were formerly slaves, who have complied with the provisions of section five, Chapter 40, of the acts of the General Assembly, ratified March 10, 1866, shall be deemed to have been lawfully married. (1866, c. 40, s. 5; Code, s. 1842; Rev., s. 2085; C.S., s. 2497.)

maybe one day things will turn around for gay people as well and they will finally be "validated" as human beings

because michelleC - this is not about religion. this is about law. and your arguement about beastiality and necrophilia is out of context. We are talking about the rights of living humans here, not animals or the dead.

The phrase "separation of church and state" is derived from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 to a group identifying themselves as the Danbury Baptists. In that letter, referencing the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Jefferson writes:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.

I can't believe that people believe that they have the right to control the love lives of others. How would you feel if your partner that you have been with for 10 years is in the hospital and you can not make a decision for their health because "you are not legally bound" to them?

all the quotes and opinions in the world can not change love. you can keep taking rights away from other humans, but in the end, it does not make you right. In the end, you can not stop them from loving one another. All you are doing is denying them the same rights you take for granted. They are not asking for your approval, they are not asking if they can continue to be gay, they are asking for basic legal rights.

do you really think they deserve to be denied what all americans are entitled to?