@ubersiren i’ll begin by making the following declarations: first, i am not a fundamentalist or a conservative christian – in fact, i can’t remember the last time i went to church to receive some fire and brimstone. second, while i do not believe it’s right for me to impose my views on others, i retain the right to have my own views. that said -
one thing no one can dispute is that the Bible really has nothing kindly to say about homosexuality, but rather quite the opposite.
and as i mentioned previously, christians have been given no direction that is considered divinely inspired more recent than the new testament, no updates from God, if you will, on any topic let alone homosexuality.
so, in a sense, an answer to your question is that where some christians are concerned, especially people who believe that the bible is the only source of religious and moral direction for christians, the belief that gay marriage is wrong is not ill founded.
doesn’t make them right absolutely, but no person who respects the beliefs of others can claim such folks are simply bigoted, or prejudiced, or malicious. Some may be, but then their beliefs are not bible founded, are they?
and if you recognize that marriage is not simply a religious let alone christian institution but a secular one as well, it’s not that difficult to accept that states and society can chose to legalize gay marriage as a secular institution.
And how it happens to be “consecrated” is up to the happy couple, as today the state does not dictate that marriages must be performed in any particular manner. If a minister chooses to consecrate such a marriage, that’s his/her choice.