Should science influence morality and not religion?

Originally posted by KellyJay
Marriage is a religious institution changing it to something other than what
it has been traditionally alters how it is defined as well as the family. If you
want the state to do something about that than let the state create a secular
equivalent to marriage, you could call them civil unions, but the state should
stay away from religious instituions.
Kelly

Marriage is not a purely religious institution, nor is it defined the same way in every religion.
Additionally, since you say the state stay away from religious institutions, it has no business deciding who can or cant get married or which religion gets to decide what the 'tradition' is. If my religion says that gays can get married then the state should not interfere (and neither should you).

However, marriage does have legal ramifications and as such the state gets involved - usually for tax purposes or to help protect the rights of the partners in the marriage and the children. However most countries have laws to help protect peoples rights even if they only live together without getting married.

Originally posted by KellyJay
Marriage is a religious institution changing it to something other than what
it has been traditionally alters how it is defined as well as the family. If you
want the state to do something about that than let the state create a secular
equivalent to marriage, you could call them civil unions, but the state should
stay away from religious instituions.
Kelly

How does a marriage between homosexuals "touch" your marriage or your family?

How is your definition of your own marriage affected by the definitions that other people have for their marriages?

Originally posted by FMF
How does a marriage between homosexuals "touch" your marriage or your family?

How is your definition of your own marriage affected by the definitions that other people have for their marriages?

Marriage is a holy bond setup by God between man and woman, it defiles the
institution, and in doing so redines family as well. If you do not see it I cannot
show it to you.
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
Marriage is a holy bond setup by God between man and woman, it defiles the
institution, and in doing so redines family as well. If you do not see it I cannot
show it to you.
Kelly

How can a marriage between homosexuals "defile" your marriage or your family?

Originally posted by FMF
So, now two posters have asserted the presence of "confusion" without saying why or what exactly. You suggest moral behaviour is not connected to the well being of the people it affects?

This was William Lane Craig's response to Harris' argument in their debate earlier this year at Notre Dame:

Harris admits in his book The Moral Landscape that if people like rapists, liars, and thieves could be just as happy as good people, then his moral landscape would no longer be a moral landscape; rather it would just be a continuum of well-being, whose peaks are occupied by good and evil people alike (p. 190).

The fact that sociopathic personalities exist—those without conscience who actually enjoy inflicting harm on others—implies there is a possible world which we can conceive in which the continuum of human well-being is not a moral landscape. That possibility proves that well-being and moral goodness are not identical.

Originally posted by epiphinehas
The fact that sociopathic personalities exist—those without conscience who actually enjoy inflicting harm on others—implies there is a possible world which we can conceive in which the continuum of human well-being is not a moral landscape.

No one talked about "enjoyment" as being "well being". Now you are getting confused, perhaps. What "well being" do rape victims experience by being raped? When sociopathic personalities inflict harm, how does that promote or protect the "well being" of others?