Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Virginia

I agree with you that same-sex marriage should be legal, and I hope the laws against it will be struck down. But it is not "clear that they are based on the Christian Bible" -- or even on the Jewish Bible, which is older and which says a lot more about gay relationships. Those laws *agree* with the Bible, but that's not the same thing. After all, laws against murder also agree with the Bible. That does not make them illegitimate.

Even before the Old Testament was written, murder was illegal in every society on Earth. So were many other things the Bible forbids. The Bible says these things are forbidden by God, but they'd already been forbidden by man. Continuing to forbid them does not make the bans religious in nature.

Besides, the Bible has shaped many aspects of western civilization. That includes many of our laws. That historical fact doesn't undermine all the laws the Bible has influenced.

Remember that gay marriage is also forbidden in many countries where the Bible has not had much influence. So even if our legal system somehow could have developed independently of what the Bible says, it very likely would have forbidden gay marriage anyway.

Does this make bans on gay marriage right? No. That our legal system does forbid something doesn't mean that it should. And the fact that we forbid many things that are banned by the Bible does not mean we forbid them *because* they are banned by the Bible.