The Satanism argument / 5-19-09

First of all, this blog is not going to become a same-sex marriage forum for all eternity. But that issue is probably the pre-eminent social flash point of this decade, and it elicits such strong emotions on both sides... if this were the 70's I'd probably write every other day about feminism and abortion.

But we're us and it's now, and future generations will look back on the SSM debate in much the same way we look back at the interracial marriage "debate." (Of course, just because our grandkids will excoriate the haters in the anti-gay crowd is no reason to support same-sex marriage.)

So the voices in my head have spent the last couple days offering this hypothetical conversation as a good argument to trot out when locked in disagreement with a Christian opposed to SSM.

Me: "So why shouldn't gays be allowed to marry? And don't give me that worn-out dung about how if we permit gay marriage, then it's only a matter of time before polygamy or bestiality or pedophilia show up on the legalization list. Nobody is asking to marry a mule or both their 12-year-old twin great-nieces here.
Anti-SSM person: "I won't go that hateful route. I just think God intended for marriage to be between a man and a woman. No other combos allowed."
Me: "All right. You can read the Bible that way. I've seen the same passages you're about to quote me. But since we're talking about what should be illegal in this country, let me ask you this: Should worshipping Satan be legal?"
Anti-SSM person: "I don't see why not. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights."
Me: "We agree! But then, why apply God's laws to gays but afford constitutional protections to Satanists? Seems to me that God also intended worship to be for God alone, not for Satan."
Anti-SSM person: "Ummm..."
Me: "Applying orthodox Christian dogma to politics is tricky. It's fine to use Judeo-Christian values as a building block for the law. But it's just another ingredient, otherwise it quickly becomes illegal to pray to Allah, or to curse God. And if we're going have a Constitution which allows people to worship unhindered, we ought to allow adults to love in the same way. The two just go hand in hand."
Anti-SSM person: "Ummm..."

Please fill in the Ummms for me with reasonable replies. I can't think of any.