evanescent

Friday, September 12th, 2008 |

A friend of mine sent me this email today.

For those of you deciding to partake in voting this year (in California); I urge, encourage, insist and PRAY that you EDUCATE yourselves on the FACTS of certain sensitive and important issues first. Do NOT allow yourselves to be swayed by the passionate OPINIONS of either side. Gather the facts and make a decision for yourself. Don’t be a fool and vote blindly. It is your moral obligation as an American citizen with the LUXURY of having freedom in so many ways to at least take the time to vote. The best way to say thank you for that freedom that we ALL take for granted, is by showing appreciation and making a sacrifice; sacrifice a small portion of your time to educate yourself on the issues and go vote.
I will be the first to admit that I have been a lazy, ignorant and an in-active voter all my adult life. Thankfully, my eyes have been opened to what really matters as I hope to do the same for some of you.
To preserve the integrity of this matter and keep it unbiased, I will NOT share what my vote will be on the specific proposition at hand, which would be Prop 8:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposition_8
“ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME-SEX COUPLES TO MARRY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Fiscal Impact: Over next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly sales taxes, totaling in the several tens of millions of dollars, to state and local governments. In the long run, likely little fiscal impact on state and local governments.”
Marriage was, is and should always be recognized as a HOLY union as specified by each religious denomination. Marriage in ALL religions has always been specifically reserved for a man and a woman (or women in some religions - ‘polygamy’). Giving Marriage rights to same-sex couples would mean forcing religious denomiations to go against their own beliefs. The rights of homosexuals are still in tact if this proposition passes.
What many other states have done to address this delicate matter is to create what is called a “Civil Union”:
“In other states, civil unions or domestic partnerships are available to couples of the same sex, often carrying the same entailments as marriage, under a different name.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage
If this prop does not pass, religious denominations will be forced to go against their beliefs and marry same-sex couples. If they refuse to marry the same-sex couples, they highly risk being sued, and some religious leaders have already suffered major persecution and legal repercussions. In no way are the religious denominations saying they “hate” homosexuals (as the opposing campaign states “8 is Hate”), in fact most are warm and welcoming to them.
Ask yourself this: how would YOU feel if someone told you to do something against your beliefs and your heart…or else?!
I conclude:
Voting ‘YES’ on Prop 8: Marriage will only be for a man and a woman.
Voting ‘NO’ on Prop 8: Marriage will be recognized for any gender.
*for those of you NOT located in California I very humbly request that you forward this to your friends and family here in Cali.

And here was my reply:

As Sam Jackson would say… “Are you finished? Well Allow me to retort”

If it is an argument towards fairness, fairness for religious denominations, then the argument contains faulty logic.

Giving Marriage rights to same-sex couples would mean forcing religious denomiations to go against their own beliefs. The rights of homosexuals are still in tact if this proposition passes.

Patently untrue and contradictory. This is a “blanket” style argument. Most of the religious organizations I have been exposed to are opposed to divorce yet the State recognizes and has made legal the right to terminate the legal contract or “Holy Union” of marriage. Should their be a Constitutional Amendment banning divorce because it offends Religious organizations? In my neighborhood (yes, it is biased since it is Hillcrest) there are a number of recognized (tax status) churches that do (and will) be happy to perform same-sex marriages. Therefore the broad generalization that “religious organizations” will be forced to go against their beliefs applies only to a section of the greater population.

If this prop does not pass, religious denominations will be forced to go against their beliefs and marry same-sex couples.

Again, this is only partially true and applies mainly to Puritan-Christian belief systems. Buddhist Monks have performed same-sex unions in the past. As a matter of fact, there is no objection of the Buddha found in the Tipitaka. To be precise, the Buddha was neither supportive nor against marriage between members of the same gender. In the Jewish religion, homosexuality is categorically forbidden by the Torah and remains the current view of Orthodox Judaism, but not of Reconstructionist Judaism and Reform Judaism. Islam, of course, patently outlaws homosexuality but fundamental Islamic sects also denies fundamental human rights to women.

If they refuse to marry the same-sex couples, they highly risk being sued, and some religious leaders have already suffered major persecution and legal repercussions.

Name one religious leader who has been sued for refusing to marry a same-sex couple? I can’t think of one but I will google the issue myself. I cannot walk into a Synagogue and demand to be married as that I am not Jewish. The Catholic faith (mine by birth) routinely denies marriage to a couple if the priest has concerns about the union, the Church leaves it up to individual parishes to decide the matter. A marriage ceremony is a “purchased” service. If you get married in a church, you pay the church. If you get married at the county clerk’s office, you pay the county clerk’s office. You can’t walk into just any Doctor’s office and demand and abortion or plastic surgery or to have a limb removed. Organizations are not at risk of litigation if they refuse to perform a ceremony. Trust me on this, Gays and Lesbians know where they are not welcome.

Think about how it would make you feel if a law was passed legally obligating you to do something against your own beliefs?

This Propostion, if passed, will violate my own personal beliefs that a man or woman should have the right to do whatever they want as long as it does not deny me the same right.

That’s all I can say on the matter. I mean you no ill will Liz and I still love and respect you. This is the United States of America and we all have a right to have our voice heard. You used yours and in writing this response, I simply did the same.

Respectfully submitted, Chris Brown

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