I'm so confused.

Not by "gay", or by "Christian" (well, maybe sometimes), or even "gay Christian"...

But by the interpretation by many of the term "marriage contract". And not so much even by that, but by how such simple and universally accepted language has so many people in such a tizzy.

I think pretty much everyone knows that not all Americans are Christians, or followers of any organized religion. (An oxymoron if ever there was one.) And I think it's REALLY great that those who wish to have the freedom to consider their own marriage to be a sacred agreement between two consenting adults and God.

But EVERYONE seems understanding of the obligations created by a legally binding contract. 100%. So when two men or two women sign a legal contract to buy a house together, or share the obligations of renting an apartment, or divide the responsibility to pay for a new car, no one raises a fuss.

But if some pair of total strangers (to them) chooses whether or not to bring God into the equation of marriage...

It seems very much (to me) that when someone raises a stink about same-gender marriage (which absolutely involves a legally binding contract), they're actually objecting to how those two people bring God into their lives...or they don't bring God into their lives. But they clearly are not concerned about the "contract" part...the very thing that no one in America seems at all confused about, and the aspect that is universal to all married Americans.

What's so hard about considering marriage to be a legal agreement, as as been the case since America was established as a system of laws to enable the coexisting of the people of a nation, and let the "sacred agreement with God" to be a personal matter, as is the case in pretty much every other aspect of American lives? (Well, except for the autonomy of women to control their own reproductive health, of course. And others too numerous to mention, come to think of it.)

But marriage is absolutely and undeniably a legal contract for every American who marries, and optionally an agreement with God. But it seems this issue has far less to do with the "sin(sic) of homosexuality", and everything to do with deciding with how other Americans choose to worship.

Isn't it really just that simple? (I'm a cis male, only briefly married decades ago, so it's likely I lack much of the necessary context. But it really seems very simple to this specific, but very confused individual.)

Thank you, Mike. I had hoped that putting it into words might provide clarity...but it doesn't. (I sincerely hope nothing I've presented here is offensive. My intention is anything but.)