As to gay rights, the view down my way would be that it is not for the church to interfere with the secular authorities decision to assign rights (or not) to gays. If it is decided that gays be allowed a marriage-like union, then fine. If they want to call it marriage then fine too. That gays would not be permitted to marry in the church (or have a secular union recognised as marriage under God) wouldn't be a denial of rights anymore than would the refusal to permit a man and his mother marry... be a denial of rights.
How very refreshing!
I think one of the main differences between America and Ireland (and many other countries) on this issue is that we have some very peculiar brands of Christianity, many of which hold to a "Divine Providence" line of thinking in which we are some kind of Chosen People and, they feel that the sanctioning of gay marriage (and other hot-button issues today and in the past) by the government will cause "our great nation" to fall out of favor with God. Hence, the proclamations of Pat Robertson that events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina were a punishment from God for our increasing acceptance of gays/feminists/abortions/atheists/etc.
In their eyes, there is no separation of church and state actions because the whole country is supposedly under some kind of mandate from God, so whatever the government and/or society does or doesn't do will be acted upon by God. Just think back to the OT and the various punishments and rewards showered upon the Hebrews. This is how many Christians (especially the most vocal ones...the ones who have a lot of sway with government policy) think in America. And this is why they can't just leave it up to their individual churches to decide to marry or not marry gays no matter what the government does. To them, the entire country's favored status is on the line.
It's unfortunate.
"You are metaphysicians. You can prove anything by metaphysics; and having done so, every metaphysician can prove every other metaphysician wrong--to his own satisfaction. You are anarchists in the realm of thought. And you are mad cosmos-makers. Each of you dwells in a cosmos of his own making, created out of his own fancies and desires. You do not know the real world in which you live, and your thinking has no place in the real world except in so far as it is phenomena of mental aberration." -
The Iron Heel by Jack London
"Hazards exist that are not marked" - some bar in Chelsea
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