Really, I Need an Answer. The Only Ones Interested in My Life Want to Ruin It.

So, I've got questions. Mainly aimed at those who oppose gay marriage. I hear all about the evils that would surely permeate our now-pristine set of perfect heterosexual examples of marriage. I hear about protecting the sanctity of marriage and securing family values. I hear about money shortages if companies extend benefits. I hear about windbags trying to amend the Constitution. What I have yet to hear is any valid reason for any of these right-wing conservative propaganda "what-ifs."

My big question is this: before anyone tries to define who is eligible to be joined in the union of marriage, could we please define that union? Is it a religious institution? Is it a secular institution? If it is a religious union, then the Federal Government has no right to use it as any form of criteria for any purpose such as: Taxation, property rights, adoption, etc.. If it is a secular union, then no one has any right to try to fit it into any religion other than that of the two parties involved. Our intellectually-impaired leader seems to want it both ways. He wants his version of God and religion to determine what is right for all of our citizens, regardless of each individual's chosen set of beliefs and he wants to be able to utilize parts of that union to determine eligibility for federal benefits and responsibility to the IRS.

I am at a loss to understand how any union outside of one's own marriage could impact said marriage, yet I have heard about the fear that same-sex marriage would weaken the whole institution of marriage. How, I ask...how? Is the marriage institution so weak that it can be shaken in this way? We now have information at our disposal...would some statistician please go to Massachusetts and measure the stability of heterosexual marriages in the wake of the recently wed same-sex couples that are now fortunate enough to have been legally recognized?