Reply #6: 8/10, I think. [View All]

I agree with 1-7 and with 10.

But there are all sorts of corollaries to #8 that I think make it a dubious line of argument at best - try replacing "gays getting married", (or "having abortions", for which the same argument is often tried) with something genuinely immoral, like murder or rape. The whole point of a legal system is that if enough people hold the opinion that a type of action is immoral, it should be banned.

To expand #8 into a valid line of argument, you have to add a great deal of additional explanation as to why gay marriage and abortion are not immoral, but rape and murder are. And once you *have* that additional explanation, the line of argument set out in #8 doesn't add anything to the strength of your argument.

And #9 is slightly misleading. There are lots of small religious groups that support same-sex unions. And most big religious groups have large minorities of their followers who support same-sex unions. But the fraction of religious people who are members of a church that does not officially condemn same-sex unions is quite small (I think - I'm not 100% confident on that one).