OK, this has been on my mind for a while, and I know I’ll get a lot of hate mail for this, but I just wanna speak my mind.
Marriage is an interesting institution. Our government and society has assigned a lot of legal baggage to go along with the institution, but barring that, it’s a social institution that defines a basic unit of a family and therefore a basic unit of learning, living, and society at large. The authority for defining this basic institution comes from one of two places: 1) God, or, if you don’t believe in Him, 2) society (which only makes sense, since it’s a societal institution).
Since we live in a non-theocratic republic, we cannot say that one person’s religious beliefs are more valuable than another person’s. So we must use the societal definition of the institution — majority rules. It doesn’t matter what influences each individual’s definition — we cannot dictate another person’s conscience — but when polled/voted for the majority’s definition, we need to try to accept it graciously. Government shouldn’t get involved because marriage isn’t a ‘right’. It’s a social construct, defined by the society in which we live. If you don’t like it, then you’re free to live the way you want without the ‘social stamp of approval’ or move someplace where the society defines things more to your liking. Don’t go spewing hate against the people where you live.
This wide-eyed “Why is everyone spewing hate at us poor widdle Mormons?” stuff is hilarious. It’s one thing vote with one’s conscience like the red herring you’re using here, another for a tax-exempt religious group to actively donate 20 million dollars–and countless amounts of church time and administrative hours, in possible violation of IRS laws– to a political campaign that utilized blatantly deceptive advertising.
However, you’re right, majority rules, even if some of that majority resulted from dishonesty. The gays should accept the majority rule like you’re asserting. Alas, several polls indicate that the majority who voted against gay marriage cited the inability of gay couples to conceive biological children together as a reason. So, in respect to the majority’s views that marriage is about creating biological children, when is your and your husband’s annulment scheduled, Dyany? Oh, and majority of the American public likely would think Mormon underwear was weird if they knew about it, so do take those off.