Sorry, I'm not being clear. By "the church" simply referring to religion in general, as opposed to "the state". I fully recognize that other religions (or churches) may allow gay marriage and that it is completly within thier rights to define marriage that way. I just don't think the state should do it. To me THAT'S a violation of church/state separation. Your next thought is going to be- why should the state define marriage as "man and woman", and as I've said before I don't think the state should have ever been involved in the first place. But since the state DID get involved, it seems unfair to change the meaning now.

Let me tack this on as a thought that I haven't really been clear on: I think gay marraige is going to happen. I am a little upset by it because of the whole "redifinition" thing, but ultimately it's not the end of the world. I don't support legislative morality, and this includes homosexuals: if a homosexual person decides not to persue a same-sex relationship, I'd rather this be an honest act of faith rather than bowing to the pressure of society. So none of my beliefs about legal same-sex marriage come from the idea that I want to somehow keep people from sin by forcing them into submission of my worldview; they come from a defensive position of feeling attacked.