Posted on 11/16/2004 12:00:00 AM PST by Racehorse
During the recent election, voters in 11 states approved amendments opposing same-sex marriage.
So it is no surprise that Texas Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, rushed to prefile a bill proposing a constitutional amendment defining marriage in Texas as only between a man and a woman.
Even though state law already defines marriage that way, Chisum's bill calls for a vote on the amendment in the November 2005 election.
The measure is both unnecessary and divisive. The state should establish rules for civil unions that define legal relationships and leave the issue of who can marry to religious institutions, where it belongs.
This uproar began in November 2003 when the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal. The amendments passed on Nov. 2 were designed to prohibit other courts from doing the same.
Civil unions assure basic financial, health and legal decisions, which now are limited to married couples. They should be available to whoever wants to bind themselves by such ties.
Marriage is a religious ceremony — a sacrament in many faiths — and should remain under the authority of churches.
[Snip]
Government should get out of the marriage business, leaving the faith community to decide which unions can go before God and be called holy matrimony.
Government should, instead, provide equal civil rights to all Americans through civil unions.
Surely, conservatives, who want limited government, and liberals, concerned with civil rights, can agree in this common-sense measure.
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
But the editorial, at the very least, misunderstands the interest of the state and society in deciding who should or should not be considered to be married.
I see no state or civil interest whatsoever that would be served by offering any legitimacy to the pretense that a homosexual relationship bears any resemblance to a marriage.
They're out of touch with the values of Texans. What they really mean by "divisiveness" is if you're not in lockstep with the homosexual agenda, you're not a tolerant and open minded person as defined by them, the liberal elite in the San Antonio newsrooms. They look at most Texans as a bunch of intolerant, narrow-minded, fascist, gay-haters. How dare they presume to protect marriage! With thinking like that, you can see how the Democratic Party has become extinct around Flyover Country. They just don't get it.
These are all the same failed liberal arguments that failed in Oregon to stop the constitutional amendment that just passed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.