George Neumayr quotes Roger Cardinal Mahony as follows "Some benefits currently sought by same-sex partners can already be obtained without regard to marital status....Other desired benefits such as sharing in a partner's health insurance could be made available without the drastic step of a cultural or legal redefinition of marriage".
In other words, the argument over establishing an absolute equivalence for homosexual behavior versus heterosexual behavior has been reduced to the Alamo of the word "marriage". Everything of substance, in every respect, has been rendered equivalent. Filing joint tax returns, adopting children, etc., the same. But are Crockett, Bowie and Travis expected to sacrifice themselves for the word and not the substance? This is madness. We live in a real world, not a theoretical one. Words do have consequences. But consequences pre-empt words. You can stick a fork into consequences, but not into words.
p>If Californians and Americans do not wish substantive differences between civil unions and "traditional" marriages, then it's time to recognize that the word has been rendered meaningless. br> -- Frank Natoli