In the Rough - The Blog of Joel McDonald Jr.

I think most know that there is an ongoing campaign in California to pass an amendment to that state’s constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, but what many may not know is that Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi introduced the Marriage Protection Act on June 25th, which would amend our Constitution to declare that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, using the exact same language as the failed 2004 attempt.

This proposed amendment states: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.  Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.”

Marriage is the acknowledgement of the state of the permanent relationship between two people. As I see it, this acknowledgement is base on contract law. Marriage is not seen as “sacred” in the eyes of the law. It’s a legal partnership, and is accompanied by the paperwork one would expect of any kind of contractual agreement. Compare this marriage license application and this concealed gun permit application. Both are the same in their level of recognizing the sacredness of the license or permit. Interestingly, the gun permit application is more involved that the marriage license application is.

Consider this: Do you think your rights would be violated if you were denied the permit to carry a gun due to your gender?

Luckily, the US Constitution forbids any state from by stating that, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States” in the 14th amendment.

How then can any state withhold a license of marriage from any persons due to their gender? I really want to know your thoughts on this. Is my logic flawed, or am I on base with this one?

Related Posts:
Respect the faith while protecting others from it
Mormonism’s battle against gay marriage
Romney attempts to ease concerns about his Mormonism
Marriage Protection Amendment

Sign for Something is a diverse group of members and friends of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) united in their desire to speak their conscience on the matter of civil marriage. We each have our own views on this issue, but we stand united in the belief that each individual should have the civil right to marry the spouse of their choice and to have that union recognized by civil authorities. This runs contrary to the LDS church’s current policy, which asks its members to actively work toward making marriage between one man and one woman the only legal option. Our goal is to empower members of the LDS church in sharing their views and making political decisions for themselves.

The group is currently collecting letters to be submitted on their site from which they will be later printed and hand delivered to the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City.

You can head over and read my submitted letter by clicking here.

You may have already read an AP article about a Florida man excommunicated for being gay writing his friends and family in California asking them to stand up and walk out of church services this past Sunday as leaders throughout the state read a statement from central church leadership in Salt Lake City asking Latter-day Saints throughout California to rally in support of a state marriage amendment in reaction to homosexuals being allowed to marry.

Today I joined a Facebook group called “Sign for Something” which is taking a stand against ecclesiastical encroachment in government, especially where gay marriage is concerned. There is also a website under construction at http://signforsomething.org/.

I believe strongly that no person should should be affected by the beliefs of any church unless that person submits themselves to the authority of that church by becoming a member.

And for members of a church that don’t agree with the actions of their church, they should respond by leaving. There is a growing movement of disaffected Latter-day Saints to do just this. A current thread at PostMormon.org is organizing such a movement, and believes they will see over one thousand current members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints submit their resignations in response to the church’s meddling in the politics of California. This group should also have a website up to facilitate this action soon.