North Carolina passes same-sex marriage ban

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by Daseal

The difference that you seem to be missing, is marriage isn't forcing a single thing on the churches. It is creating more freedom for the individuals to make decisions, while others are trying to constrict freedom. The amount of time and money taken up by gay marriage is beyond crazy to me. Let them get married so that they can be viewed legally as one for things like healthcare, next-of-kin, etc type decisions. It doesn't affect anyone in a negative manner if we do this. If this went live today, no one here (unless you're a gay person that gets married) has their life changed.

Most gay couples, and many non-gay couples, couldn't give half a shit if the 'church recognizes' their marriage. It's about the legal ramifications around not being married that matters; if this happens, non-gay couples need to have their title to the government changed as well. It is about fairness and consistency.

The church doesn't have to recognize marriage. Call it something else if you like -- as long as it fills the legal roles of a typical marriage. Your argument should have 0 credibility or influence on this decision because the church, and their values, should not be weighed or factored in when it comes to making governmental decisions. No Christians are being forced to do anything, they're just trying to force others from having something.

I think you are completely misreading Skinsguy's post. I dont think he said anything at all about churches. Hes saying remove the federal govt. from marriage all together. That a marriage, gay, straight, poly or anything else shouldnt be recognized by our government. Because why should it?

And i almost completely agree with him and i think skinsguy put it very well. But not the tax thing.

Everyone thinks theres some big benefit to getting married tax wise. There really isnt. There used to be back in the day (pre-70's) when the tax scale for 1 person was twice as steep as it was for 2 married people. But they changed that and made the tax scale much steeper for married people.

The last time i checked tax revenues are nearly identical when you compare actual numbers to the estimates of what total revenues would be if everyone had to file as single. This means a couple things:

-If you are low income or high income there is a almost always a Marriage Penalty

-Lower Middle and Middle income (i think 50-80k joint) there are usually some minor benefits. But not always (watch out if your incomes are very similar)

-Usually the differences change from year to year

Also filing jointly usually:

-Means youre probably paying more if you make over 100k jointly, unless just one person is the income earner. Most people now a days especially the 100-500k range people are dual earners and are penalized.

-Usually always hurt the poor. The IRS LOVES single moms. There are so many benefits poor people forgo by getting hitched. I think its never better (tax wise) to get married if youre poor. It may be worse, sometimes a lot worse (earned income credit), but never better. Very sad.

Honestly the more i think about, the supposed "marriage benefit" is a pretty inconsequential thing for most of those who actually get the benefit. However it can really really f-over poor people.

But it may not matter because the big Marriage Penalty is set to come back this year. GW Bush was the President that ended the original Marriage Penalty, but he didnt really replace it with a "marriage benefit". It was a revenue neutral thing, and its set to go away.

Also skinsguy, getting rid of marriage law doesnt mean getting rid of alimony, ex-wives, divorce court or any of that stuff. When someone gets married they are entering a contract. The marriage license is just a contract. We will still need contracts (which the "life-partner" crowd already uses) to bring 2 (or multiple) people together legally. If they separate it will be a breach of contract and shared achievements will need to be accounted for and divided.

OKay all that said there is one BIG benefit to being married tax wise. You can give your assets to your spouse tax free. This primarily effects estate taxes, which as we all know only affect those disgusting rich people. Maybe a provision of the contract people would enter into would allow for this?

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

yup, hopefully be saying as i share a phillip morris premo blend spliff

lol could happen

[mlmpetert]

Tolerant Left Strikes Again… Bomb Threat at West Virginia Chick-fil-A | The Gateway Pundit

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Still waiting NC?

Good luck! He still wont tell me if hes boycotting CFA or not.

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by Daseal

The message stands. It doesn't affect the guy with the picket sign that knows nothing about her situation.

I won't hijack and go down the whole abortion issue rat-hole, but her situation isn't what the gov't needs to protect. How about the Constitutional right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for the unborn child.

[NC_Skins]

Originally Posted by firstdown

You have never been to a BBQ to raise money for a church which feeds the poor. People pack churches every week and they pass a tray to make donations. Hell just 3 months back we had over 500 people waiting in lines to buy food and beer to help the poor. Having a golf event on Sept 7 which will have around 140 golfers at $100 a man to raise money for the poor. I could a 100 pages on people gathering to help rais money for the poor so you can quit waiting. Maybe you should try joing an organization that helps the poor and you would actually see what people do to help them.

I was raised in a Baptist church no beer my friend. You still didn't get the jest of my post. It wasn't to say that churches don't help the poor and needy, but I have NEVER EVER seen or heard about around the country where people waited in lines and went way out of their way to support the poor and needy. Holding a BBQ or a golf tournament isn't going out of the way. Waiting in line for 3 hours to get a chicken sandwich to "support" a group is going out of your way.

You could get 100 pages of people gathering money, and I could gather 1,000 times that of people gathering money and doing things for the poor and needy that don't believe in god.

[hooskins]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

I feel like in 10-15 years we'll look back and say wow, I can't gay marriage was actually a big deal.

Exactly.

[NC_Skins]

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

There are millions of Christians who spend many more hours.....per week.....actually working helping others.

Now let's talk about donations. In one division, of one charity, of one specific faith, specifically Catholic Charities of NY, annual donations for individuals and businesses were over $ 16M in a year. At let's say an average pay rate of $ 17 / hr. after taxes, that would equate to over 940,000 hours of work/pay that were donated.

Let's not be obtuse here, Christians donate a great deal to help others and much more than the non-religious. Can I quantify that, not without more time than I'm willing to put into this discussion, but I can guarantee you can't come up with anything to refute that statement.

I'll be patiently waiting

O' RLY?



Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To maintain its status as a charitable foundation, it must donate at least 5% of its assets each year.[17] Thus the donations from the foundation each year would amount to over US$1.5 billion at a minimum.

The President of the Global Health Program is Trevor Mundel. The Gates Foundation has quickly become a major influence upon global health; the approximately US$800 million that the foundation gives every year for global health approaches the annual budget of the United Nations World Health Organization (193 nations) and is comparable to the funds given to fight infectious disease by the United States Agency for International Development.[20] The Foundation currently provides 17% (US$86 million in 2006) of the world budget for the attempted eradication of poliomyelitis (polio).[21]

The Global Health Program's other significant grants include:

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization
The foundation gave The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization a donation of US$750 million on January 25, 2005.[22][23]

Children's Vaccine Program
The Children's Vaccine Program, run by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), received a donation of US$27 million to help vaccinate against Japanese encephalitis on December 9, 2003.[24]

University of Washington Department of Global Health
The foundation provided approximately US$30 million for the foundation of the new Department of Global Health at the University of Washington in Seattle. The donation promoted three of the Foundation's target areas: education, Pacific Northwest and global health. The foundation also lead a study to increase access to high education globally.

HIV Research
The foundation has donated a grand total of US$287 million to various HIV/AIDS researchers. The money was split between sixteen different research teams across the world, on the condition that they share their findings with one another.[25]

Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation
The foundation gave the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation more than US$280 million to develop and license an improved vaccine against tuberculosis for use in high burden countries.[26][27]

Visceral Leishmaniasis Research
The foundation awarded the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases a $5 million grant in 2009 for research into visceral leishmaniasis, an emerging parasitic disease in Ethiopia where it is frequently associated with HIV/AIDS, and a leading cause of adult illness and death. The project is a collaborative effort with Addis Ababa University and will gather data for analysis to identify the weak links in the transmission cycle and devise methods for control of the disease.[28]

The foundation has also given The Institute for OneWorld Health a donation of nearly US$10 million to support the organization's work on a drug for visceral leishmaniasis.

Warren Buffett Donates $1.52 Billion To Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation

Warren Buffett Donated $42 Million In Stock To Mystery Charities


http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmo...eir-billions/\



Yeah...and that's just two guys...lol Dude, you assertion that christians donate more than non-religious is a bogus claim to say the least. Buffet and Gates alone will most likely demolish any donations by any religious organization in the US. Guess what? Those two are agnostic.


SO can you show me the charity contributions made by churches or religious organizations in the US? I'm not talking about the tithing either. Tithing isn't a donation to a charity either. Religious people are supposed to give 10% of their income to the church as part of tithing. So how much of this money from tithing goes to charities to help other people?

I'll be patiently waiting.

[NC_Skins]

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

How about the Constitutional right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for the unborn child.

The irony is SO overwhelming my brain is starting to fry.



Christians: You gays can't have rights to marry.


Christians: How about the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for a being who doesn't even exist or even considered a self sufficient life?


Let's not even go down this road. The picture I posted applies much like Daseal stated.

[NC_Skins]

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

Good luck! He still wont tell me if hes boycotting CFA or not.

You nerds calm down. It's my birthday and answering your questions has been the least of my worries.


I think I explained my stance on "boycotting". I think it was pretty clear.

[NC_Skins]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

I've said this before and I'll say it again - remove the term "marriage contract" from the government's dictionary. Instead, the only thing anyone can get from the govt. is a State sanctioned civil union performed by a government official and ending the authority of religious officers to provide the State's sanction to such conracts. Such a union would permit individuals to receive the benefits of the traditional marriage contract while ending the government's involvement in the right of various churches to define their own requirements for the marriage sacrament.

JR, allow me to take you out for a beer the next time I'm in the area. I love you man. (no homo)


What he said is exactly what they should do in regards to marriage. Just so you know, I stood up and gave you a round of applause for that post.

Believe it or not, the marriage contract was not originally a religious issue but an enforceable contract at law related to, but not the same thing as, the religious sacrament of "marriage".

Don't tell religious people that.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by NC_Skins

You could get 100 pages of people gathering money, and I could gather 1,000 times that of people gathering money and doing things for the poor and needy that don't believe in god.

...enough said!

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by NC_Skins

Yeah...and that's just two guys...lol Dude, you assertion that christians donate more than non-religious is a bogus claim to say the least. Buffet and Gates alone will most likely demolish any donations by any religious organization in the US. Guess what? Those two are agnostic.:

Two agnostic multi-billionaires' donations is your response....lol

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by NC_Skins

.
Christians: How about the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for a being who isn't even exist or even considered a self sufficient life?


Let's not even go down this road.

Agree to not go down the road, disagree with your definition of "being that isn't even exist".

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by NC_Skins

You nerds calm down. It's my birthday and answering your questions has been the least of my worries.


I think I explained my stance on "boycotting". I think it was pretty clear.

Nerds?! Youre the one who, while reading a post from your computer, stood up and gave an entire round of applause to a post you agreed with. PLEASE tell me there were othere people around! Please!

Either way regardless of our differences i hope you had a happy bday!

Speaking of which i thought this was pretty cute:

RNC Sends the DNC a ‘You Didn’t Bake This‘ Cake for Obama’s Birthday…and the DNC Sends it Back | TheBlaze.com