First, I agree Dad that you can't equate the death penalty for truly guilty offenders with abortion but unfortunately as it stands I have very little faith in our justice system to come anywhere close to "correctly" convicting and we should therefore assume the innocence of all to a certain degree.
Second, while I don't think we should abandon the hungry and poor our welfare system as it stands serves to help keep people ignorant and in the system. It's in drastic need of reform to truly minister. That said, I don't believe the state's job is to minister. That's the church's job. As it is now I think we've gotten ourselves turned around. The state should be requiring folks to work and earn assistance (however possible) while training and enabling folks to get out from under the system. The church should be giving food, clothes, shelter to those in need regardless of how they got there, emphasizing God's love for them where they are and His power to supernaturally free them from whatever outer or inner shackles are holding them there. Right now what I see a lot of is Christians refusing to feed drunkards b/c they are slaves to the bottle (or whatever irresponsible sin). Bondages are what God calls us to free! Jesus ministered to physical needs and in that way pointed to the greater healing he gives.
I know I'm just going to end up muddling and have to come back to clarify more again later, but I'm trying to get as much down as I can while my sweeties are still napping and dinner is cooking. Now, for the gay marriage issue. It's not one I should have thrown out so flippantly in passing, huh? To clarify: I am not for gay marriage, but neither am I against gay marriage. I think probably ideally we should have civil unions, thus not giving the sacred nod to gay marriage, but not denying the unions in the governmental realm (I was very pleased to see you saying the same thing, Kristin). My problem is that so many Christians seem to think it very important to take a public, active stand against gay marriage instead of using those energies to make positive investments in these issues. And for those actively campaigning against gay marriage what homosexuals are hearing isn't "I love you but not the sin", what they're hearing is a desire to discriminate against a group of people. As Christians we should never encourage gay marriage, but the sinfulness of an act should be convicted on someone within the context of the person and grace of Christ, not by imposing the law (none of us can live up to) without grace and actual Jesus-like love. This is my opinion.
With all this said there is an anti-gay marriage argument that seems to make sense to me right now, though honestly not very strongly. Andy said that making it legal will increase the social acceptance of the sin therefore making it more prominent. He likened it to pornography, where keeping it behind the counters makes it less easy for those tempted to fall into the sin. I'm not so sure I buy into that application to gay marriage, seeing as how those getting married aren't going to be folks experimenting or playing around - it will be those who would be in this lifestyle anyway and those committed enough that societal norms are not going to hold them back anyway. I don't think legalizing the relationships that are already there will increase the amount of gay couples we see in society and therefore tempt folks into experimentation or play - but it could be plausible.
And now all three of my boys are awake and in need, so my immediate responsibilities call. I've no doubt of the biblical sinfulness of homosexuality. I don't need to be convinced of that. What I do seem to disagree with some on is whether or not the biblical sexual standards should be made into secular law and the good or harm that would do.
*An addendum: This is an interesting conversation on the role of Law esp. if you read through the comments. I think it touches at the heart of this issue. This from the same blog speaks well to the Is.58 post.