Prop 8

So, I feel like I need to speak up on this issue which has come up in conversation over the past few months. Of course its not a shock that I agree with banning gay marriage. I've been thinking a lot about why this is the case. So, these are my thoughts, take them or leave them, on different aspects of this issue.

I think one of the problems is that religious organizations and the government have to deal with each other occasionally. Usually the interaction is benign (in day to day life), but then we get instances like this, where the government is asked to define, on a broad base for everybody, what is essentially a religious issue. People get mad about religious coalitions (in particular-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) giving money to campaign for a 'yes' vote on Prop 8, but are unwilling to allow that there has never been a hidden agenda with us (the LDS church). The Church has, from the beginning, stated and defined for its members what marriage is. And, in case there was ever any gray area, 'The Proclamation to the Family', released in September 23, 1995, addressed this issue specifically. So it only follows that they would come out strong when it gets put on the ballot.

I also understand that people don't like being told what to do. I feel strongly about this. I don't like the government getting too many of its fingers in my business. So this is where the voting comes in. In this country, we express our political views with our vote. And when the votes are counted in the end, you can't deny that the majority spoke, albeit with a slim margin, on Prop 8. There are plenty of people out there who are sad, or angry because this country took away 'their right'. But this is where it becomes a circular argument. I am never going to agree that marriage, instituted by God, is defined by how much you love someone, no matter what sex they are.

So, to those who were appalled by the passing of Prop 8- This issue comes back to what a person's religious affiliation is, and I am surprised that homosexuals in this country have the gall to ask the rest of us to change our belief system to accommodate a moral choice and then force it down our throats like its always been this way. The issue of sexual freedom and racial freedom are not the same. Nobody has taken away your vote. So use it. Just don't be shocked when the rest of us do, too.