Well it always talks about marriage as being between a male and female,
True, but the absence of discussion about something is not the same as forbidding it. From what I recall, the bible is actually pretty explicit when it forbids things.
and it forbids homosexual intercourse.
Well, I honestly can't find the verse that says this, either. I mean, the clearest verse I can find regarding that is the one in Leviticus, and... well... as you said just above, that's Jewish law, not Christian, and if Judaism doesn't recognize Christ as being Christ, then I'm not quite sure how/why Christianity is required to suddenly believe
this part of the Jewish religion, either.
And since the Bible makes it clear that marriage is intended for the creating a suitable enviroment for the begating and raising of childeren
Which, again, I submit is not strictly the domain of straight people. I've seen some environments made up of gay couples that were
far more suitable for raising children than a number of environments produced by the holy matrimony of straight people. And what about straight, but infertile couples? Should they not allowed to be married, since they can't have children? Or couples that decide they don't
want to have children? Should they be barred from marriage?
(since you can love someone without being married to them or having sex with them)
You can also
not love someone, and
be married to, and have sex with them. I'm with Doug on this one -- sex isn't the important thing in a marriage (mind you, I have neither his years of experience, nor a wife, so take that with a grain of salt).
then I think from that alone we can safely infer that homosexual marriages would be frowned upon.
I wouldn't exactly call that a safe inference, given that I can see a few significant holes in the argument.
But no, I don't know of a specific verse. I'll ask my betters when I get a chance.
I await your reply...
we would like for people to stop calling them the same thing as well. That's all.
But for those who hold the belief that marriage is a commitment between two people, marriage is a civil union, and a civil union is a marriage. The terms are synonymous.