My View On Bush And The Marriage Amendment
Here's my view on the gay marriage issue:
- I oppose a marriage amendment to the Constitution, mostly because I think that marriage is something that should be decided by the voters/legislators of the various states. I don't want judges deciding the issue for everyone, but nor do I want to deny the citizens of California or Massachusettes their right to allow or deny gay marriage depending upon the will of the voters. In our last election here in North Dakota we had gay marriage on the ballot and I voted in favor of it. Mostly because, being an atheist, I see marriage as little more than a contract between two consenting adults and know of no reason why homosexual adults should be disallowed from entering into such contracts. As Whistler points out, a vast majority of my fellow North Dakotans disagree with me, so that's how it goes. We live in a democracy, and the majority rules.
- I agree with Rob B. at File It Under when he says that gay rights advocates had some of this anti-gay marriage backlash coming to them. Most Americans are not fond of seeing our laws ignored. We are proud of our democracy, and we feel that the law (in most instances) reflects our collective will. When that will is ignored - like when 12 million illegal immigrants flodd across our southern border or thousands of gays get married in San Francisco - we get angry. If the homosexual advocates in this country would tone down some of the "we're going to jam what we want down your throat and you're going to like it" rhetoric most Americans, I believe, would be relatively receptive to homosexual marriage. At least more receptive than they are now.
- If I were a person who had a moral objection to gay marriage I would be insulted by President Bush's "support" of the marriage amendment. It is half-hearted, at best, and is clearly meant (as La Shawn Barber points out) as little more than a distraction for some conservatives from issues like illegal immigration.
