This is key right here, and it’s really what I was trying to say in the other thread:
Marriage, by law, involves consent.
A same-sex adult couple can provide consent (even thiough I personally disagree with SSM). An adult-child couple cannot (the child cannot give full consent) and a human-animal couple certainly can’t.
For that reason, there is still a big gap between what’s before the Supreme Court (adult SSM) and some of the things that people are posting about in this thread and elsewhere. It would take a big step beyond simple adult SSM to change our laws to eliminate the consent requirement. It would take another big step to extend the marriage status to non-humans.
The thing I’m concerned about, as a Catholic, is how ridiculous these arguments must sound to others. The same-sex couple in my town may not share my religious beliefs, but I’ll bet they’re not interested in marrying minors or animals, and they’d be highly offended and insulted if they heard such an argument.
There’s a SSM debate coming up on local radio, and I am really worried that Catholics are going to call in and start in about adult-child marriage or human-animal marriage, and make us look like crazy people to the rest of the world.