Civil Unions?

The states in which I've called "home" the longest, California and Hawaii, both have recently debated granting civil unions to homosexual couples. With Christianity being the religion I've identified (and wrestled) with the most, I find myself following arguments on both sides. I still can't say that I'm completely for or against either side, but I do think that equality as an American is important.

My current thoughts are these.

I think that religion should not completely influence government decisions and laws. Yes, it is a loose guidance for them, but beliefs from one religion should not dominate nor dictate the way every person lives their life, especially in the US. The Church has its followers that follow in various degrees, but the government's job is to make sure that all its citizens are able to live equally and happily.

With a heterosexual divorce rate at 50%, traditional marriage is not being protected with or without the discussion of homosexual civil unions. We can't choose to ignore the fact that divorce is against God's teachings as well. If we want to jump to extremes and use the argument that traditional marriage needs to be protected, then it should be fully protected. Marriage should be reserved for the religious or for the couples who are willing to forfeit their right to divorce in the name of God. Current and future "marriages" should be classified as "civil unions" where divorce is still an option.

With fewer and fewer people identifying with an organized religion and with a wide number of couples getting married outside the Church, it is logical to not apply religion to their unions. If the Church wants to maintain marriage the way it is now, they should not simply agree to marry any heterosexual couple that wants to marry, because they are well aware that the success rate is at an F grade. Their willingness to ignore this sad reality is a failure on their part to protect traditional marriage. Anything less than the full protection of God's teachings on marriage is condoning unequal treatment of American people and is half-assing their commitment to God.

As a heterosexual male, I admit, I'm not fully comfortable with this issue and I do feel that there are potential repercussions initially from having children with gay parents. Until there are no divorces, heterosexual parents are good parents and single people aren't allowed to adopt, however, I can't see any real justification as an American to consitutionally deny gays the right to civil unions.

Sixth Sense Mobile Technology

Tom Cruise controlling computers with his hands in "Minority Report" looked pretty cool. It looks to be something that will happen faster than I thought. Our mobile phones nowadays can do so much; they let us access loads of information right in those devices. This new concept however, won't limit this porthole to a screen. Instead, it uses and interacts with the real world in front of you, letting you access information without ever having to pull out that ancient thing from your pocket. Didn't we just get cameras in our phones several years ago?!