Possibly the religious right even helped to push acceptance of gay marriage along - unintentionally, very unintentionally. Gay couples have been marrying now in Massachusetts for five years and none of their ridiculous apocalyptic predictions came to pass. For those with little sense - the majority - the proof is always in the pudding. When you're expecting a horror and nothing happens nothing can seem pretty good.

The apocalyptic predictions were always specious. The true horror for them was simply the equal acknowledgement of an alternative lifestyle. As it is comes to pass they will go to their graves unhappy about it.

Well, being gay isn't an "alternative lifestyle" unless, in my case, that includes being single, celibate and taking care of my disabled mom because my straight married siblings with children have "other priorities". Anyway, the real fear of the haters is that gays should ever be admitted into any institution, whether marriage, military service or being adoptive parents, that confers respect, respect that would gradually erode homophobia itself. Of course they can't come out and say it really all boils down to hatred so they continue to concoct various fevered horror stories.

Over the years, I've asked any number of doom-sayers just exactly how gay marriage was going to damage my marriage. None of them has, as of yet, been able to explain it to me.

Every time I see some politician pontificating about how he's gonna save "the sanctity of marriage", I gotta laugh! I mean, who on this planet seriously believes sanctity is a commodity that can be doled out or witheld by Big Brother? It's just amazing to me that anybody would look to Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Newt Gingrich, or the like as their font of Sanctity. Give me a break!

I think that among Christians there is more discussion of whether homosexuality is a sin rather than gay marriage. Even if one believed that homosexuality was a sin, there are plenty of sinful things that are legal, so that would not necessarily polarize Christians. The media tends to correlate Christain with "right wing/family values" which is a fairly small % of the church (though the most politically active).

But I agree that it is easy to overestimate the support since gay marrage does terrible at the ballot box, but I suspect that will change.

Younger people are not against gay marriage, I believe that is because they tend to have more exposure to gays and familiarlty breeds acceptance.

Homosexuality is not proscribed in the Ten Commandments. But adultery is. What shall we make of that (and the priorities of Christian fundamentalists?). I haven't heard any arguments from them that adulterers should not be allowed to be married. Neither people who steal, bear false witness and disrespect their parents. Takers of the Lord's name in vain, etc. Why can all these major sinners get married when the minor sin of homosexuality gets you banned?