Tonight, the president comes out hard against same-sex marriage, and emotions are rising as the debate heats us. With us tonight, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. He brought this issue center stage earlier this month when he ordered the city and county to issue same-sex marriage licenses; nationally syndicated Christian broadcaster Pastor John MacArthur of California's Grace Community Church; Chad Allen, the actor and producer who starred in TV hits like "My Two Dads" and "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman," became an activist after he was outed by tabloids in 1996; and Representative Marilyn Musgrave, Republican of Colorado.

The issue of gay marriages has been spewed over the airwaves. Two diametricaly opposed points of view are battling over this issue. On the one hand we have the homosexual/liberal communities fighting the law, or circumnavigating it. On the other hand, there are those who are appalled by the idea of gay marriage. Perhaps there is a group of fence straddlers who don't care, but they are so meek as to be beneath our ridicule. Where do you stand?

John Mellencamp, the ex-cougar, sings: "if you don't stand for something, then you'll fall for anything." I stand for morality, Biblical morality. But there is a problem which Christians, indeed anyone with a moral compass, must be keenly aware. Though we may take an active role in pushing our agenda, we must carefully choose our tactics.

My sister-in-law works for the department of social services. This is the story as she told it to me. Social services removed a child from his parents because the father hit the child. The child went to live with his grandparents. The social worker removed the child from his grandparents because he was residing in the living room, and that he must have his own room under the law. So the child was taken to social services at a children's center. The center is a grouphome atmosphere. This is where the story gets to be typical government.

With the recent spotlight on "gay" marriages, it seems necessary to look at the nature of marriage itself. The question really is, what is marriage?

The answer, I believe, is two fold. The first, though not the most important, is the legal view of marriage. Interestingly this is not anything more than a domestic partnership. That's right, it is a social contract, historically based on the idea that a man would financially support a wife who would domestically support him, and raise any subsequent children.

Secondly, marriage is a religious contract. Similar in motive, but with the endorsment of a deity (I will be speaking generally for a while).

I was coming out of Best Buy when the door monitor employee wanted to check my bag and my receipt. This is a ritualized parting from many stores lately including Fry’s Electronics and sometimes Target and Wal-Mart.

I asked my professor, David, on what legal rights I had. (David happens to be a District Attorney for the City of Los Angeles.) He noted that the receipt you have is your property. The bag you have is your property. And the goods inside the bag are also your property. Thus, the bag would have the same level of importance and protection from a search as that of a purse or a backpack. You do not have to show your receipt. You do not have to open your bag. But what if there is a sign that says, “We reserve the right to search all bags…” In order for the company to reserve that right, they must first have it to begin with. If I put up a sign that said, “I reserve the right to stab you in the eye with a pointy stick,” it wouldn’t make it true-as I didn’t have that right to begin with.