Gay marriage

Growing up, I have always been raised with conservative views on life and religion. Having attended private schools my whole life, starting my job was really the first time I really met people that shared different beliefs than me and that came from different backgrounds. Until that point, everyone I hung out with had attended Christian schools their whole lives as well and our views rarely differed. Now, for the first time, I was hanging around people that made me reaffirm my beliefs. One day the subject of gay marriage was brought up. For me personally, homosexuality is something I have never been a supporter of. It has been the way I was raised and I stick to that belief. But some interesting points were brought to attention that made us all think of our subject position on the matter (or maybe just me since they were not opposed to it). One girl said while homosexuality is not a lifestyle she will live, she does not believe in taking away other people’s rights to be happy and be with somebody they love (the same argument was said for abortion). Somebody else brought up the fact that if two people really will spend the rest of their lives together and they do love each other, why should that not be allowed when divorce rates are so high and multiple marriages are so common? One guy said he just wants people to accept him the way he is and the lifestyle he lives. It’s funny because we later learned that we went to the same church for a couple years--a church that does not support homosexuality. Homosexuality is just a small issue of a much broader topic that this brings to my mind—how people that practice the same religion and even go to the same church and yet have such different view on today’s issues like homosexuality, abortion, and even little things such as whether swearing is offensive and premarital sex. While I know my beliefs will not change for myself, I still am accepting of what other people believe in their lives and realize we are all going to come from different backgrounds with different opinions on religion and politics and views of life and I will never judge someone based on what they believe. It is not a lifestyle I will chose for myself, but when it comes down to it, do I want to take away somebody else's right to be happy?