The gays are coming. The gays are coming.

The National Organization for Marriage takes up a Paul Revere status with its new commercial “The Gathering Storm,” which has been aired around the nation since Iowa State Supreme Court labeled any ban on gay marriage as unconstitutional.

The commercial, which is slightly homophobic at best, shows a diverse group of actors anxious about same-sex marriage and storms brewing ominously in the background.

“My freedom will be taken away,” one actor says.

The one minute plug has more than 500,000 views on YouTube.

This foreshadows how irrational the debate will become from both conservatives and liberal as more states begin to allow same-sex marriage and more states, most recently California, begin to ban them.

The Iowa Christian Alliance has sent a letter scolding the Iowa Supreme Court and asserting its “distrust” in the judicial process.

In addition, some Iowa politicians have asked county clerks to quit doing their jobs and ignore requests for marriage licenses of same-sex couples.

The hysteria is not only for those in the political right.

A judge at the Miss USA beauty pageant recently said the runner-up, Miss California “lost [the competition] because of that question” when Carrie Prejean opposed same-sex marriage during the competition.

Let’s face it, the truth is the same-sex marriage debate lacks a serious, pragmatic discussion in the main stream media and politics.

The right seems obsessed with marriage slipping down some slope to where we allow one man and his favorite lawn chair to marry.

The left seems content with producing parodies of the right (my favorite being the giant gay repellent umbrella), portraying them as closeted rednecks.

Conservative use religious fear tactics, and liberals use humor that appeals to college students procrastinating their homework.

Who wins these political battles?

Currently a majority of states have constitutionally banned same-sex marriage.

The need for a more mature debate about same-sex marriage in combination with the proximity of the Iowa court ruling provides the Creighton community with a challenge.

The Creighton Students Union sponsored “civil debate” last week was a good start, but politics won’t stop any time soon.

A mixture of religion, family and civil rights will always make for a heated argument.

This week the White House confirmed it opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows a state to choose whether to recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions from another state.

What happens when “that couple” from Council Bluffs moves to Omaha and claims the same rights as other married couples here in Nebraska?

The political backlash will be tremendous, but hopefully we’ll be better capable to discuss a possible solution without flared passions.

With the debate becoming more hurtful, one has to wonder what would happen if state and federal governments only recognized civil unions, for every pairing of gender, and marriage was left to religious institutions.

We do pride the separation of Church and State.

The same-sex marriage debates would definitely become more civilized but, disappointingly, much less entertaining.