Who voted on YOUR marriage?

Thoughts on anti-Prop 8 arguments.

This site comes in response to friends who complained, "I don't know how to answer when Pro-8 folks say 'X'."

These arguments are meant to be discussed OUT THERE, in real life with real people, not here in the reverberating blogosphere. There are plenty of sites where you can discuss them. So, no comments here.

To those who believe in equal rights for ALL, Prop8 = PropHate. If you have any doubts that this is solely about discrimination, then try replacing "gay marriage" with "inter-racial marriage" and "gay" with "black".

Help us protect our families, defend our rights, and defeat the hate amendment.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Argument 1: My religion tells me to support Prop8

This proposition is NOT about the religious definition of marriage. This is only about CIVIL marriage and has no religious meaning. The state has an abiding interest to be sure that all citizens are treated equally under the law, and that no one is forced to live by the rules of someone else’s religion.

Thus, for example, civil divorce and remarriage is legal, although it is not allowed by the Catholics. Similarly, we aren’t required to keep kosher if we aren’t Jewish, avoid caffeine if we aren’t Mormon, or be vegetarian if we aren’t buddhist. Followers of those religions are not prevented from living their own faith values. They ARE prevented from forcing others to live their faith values.

A vote for Prop8 is really only justifiable if you believe that all should be forced to live by your religious values. That's called a theocracy, and we don't have one.

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