Those arguments or religious advocates of gay marriage, such as Bishop John Shelby Spong and Rabbi Yoel H. Kahn, support such arguments with facts and theories nearly always contrary to the Bible or other religious works. Both Spong and Kahn argue that homosexuality cannot be sinful if it is Gods will to create people in such a manner. This teaching is contradictory to the teachings in both the Old Testament of the Bible and of Jesus himself. The Bible says that there is salvation for all who desire it and follow God's law, and yet condemns those who are homosexual. Sin is a problem we brought upon ourselves; God did not put it in us and did not create beings who are by the very nature of their being cursed to Hell. The religious arguments for gay union may be sparse, but the case is very different when it comes to secular views. Disputes over the definition of the ideas of marriage and spouses have led to court cases in the late 1970s and early 80s in the United States. The cases and legal disputes over the correct definition of terms related to marriage and unions continued to escalate in frequency and in fervor until a lawmaking body finally stepped in and ended at least this small part of the controversy.
The United States passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996, stirring up even more controversy surrounding this topic during the second session of its One Hundred Fourth Congress. The text of this act clearly stated that "no state, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage. " Besides obviously stating that we will not recognize gay marriages, the act goes on to set a clear definition of marriage and the term spouse. Congress reinforced what should be quite evident, that the dictionary definition of marriage has not changed, despite what some groups or individuals may think.
