Starting arguments was not my motivation for this thread. I still maintain that a decent discussion of the issue of religion can take place if it is done by intelligent and informed people who are not merely reacting because it offends them personally, but that it is an opportunity to share differing points of view and not have to fall into the "militant atheist" cliche.

Since the thread creep involves homosexuality, it's reasonable to assume that conservative religionists take a moral opposing stance to same sex marriage culminating in the withdrawal of many gay people from the unquestioning rigidity of the church.

Though misinterpreted by self-appointed "moralists" as promiscuous or perverted, the recent studies on physiology by reputable scientists maintain that the gay life style is not a choice but predetermined genetically, a view that contradicts religious dogma.