Bezos pledges $2.6M to support same sex marriage

Personally, I don't support same sex marriage, bug legally I see no real reason to ban it. However, I'd prefer the government who represents me, not endorse a practice I don't support.<p>My solution for years has been for the government to get out of the marriage business entirely. Marriage should be a purely religious ceremony, and we can establish something like a civil union contract law to handle issues like joint ownership of property, child custody, and inheritance.<p>That way anyone, gay, straight, or polygamist can get the legal benefits of marriage, and they can find a religious institution willing to conduct the religious ceremony.

Excellent. I can now express my view of heartily not giving a damn about my vendors' political opinions by reading a book bought at Amazon while eating a sandwich bought at Chik-Fil-A.

As someone who isn't entirely familiar with this concept of pledging money for or against laws (I'm not from the US), I wonder: Where does this money go? Essentially, it sounds like you are buying the opinion of the people. Is it through advertising, or "bribes" to important individuals with power?

Here's the short answer: government stay out of my life. Keep us from getting blown up, make sure we can get from one place to another and help keep my stuff from getting stolen.<p>I'll take care of the rest.<p>If people (Gay or Straight) want to have a corporate merger and agree to co-mingle assets, then they should have that right. If they want to join a church that bestows upon them the title of "married" then they should have that right, provided they meet the church's definition or requirements to achieve "marriage." If they don't agree with the church, they can start their own or just not have a church. The government should not be the arbiter of religious beliefs except in cases when religious beliefs directly compromise another's rights (i.e. honor killings.)

Does money really have any affect on issues like this? It's great Bezos is taking a stand, but what good will this do? What harm can really be done by Chik-Fil-A's CEO?<p>Here in NC the amendment to ban same sex marriage passed with something like a 20% margin. That was <i>despite</i> anti-amendment spending beating them by 2:1 [1]. People have fairly deep convictions about these things and I don't think a campaign commercial is going to sway anyone's opinion.<p>[1]<a href="http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/11021903/" rel="nofollow">http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/11021903/</a>

I find it odd that what people do with their own money gets so much attention. First Chick-fil-A's CEO, now Amazon's. For someone who is socially lacking, could someone explain to me why these generate so much news?

&#62; Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and that company’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, each pledged $100,000 to fight Referendum 74<p>They mean "to fight <i>for</i>" the referendum, right?

Bezos has historically not given any high-profile donations, and the Seattle Times ran a series earlier this year bashing Amazon for its lack of "corporate citizenship". I wonder if this is a start of an effort to counteract that perception.

I wonder if Bezos will stop selling Chick Fil'A stuff. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pez-Chick-Fil-A-Cow-Sealed/dp/B003RMEBHG" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Pez-Chick-Fil-A-Cow-Sealed/dp/B003RMEB...</a>

Hopefully some day I can marry multiple women. Or maybe some day hopefully a mother and son can marry. Who is to say? As long as we are all adults and love one another.