I’ve just decided not to send an email. I won’t say where it came from, I won’t say where I didn’t send it to. I am publishing this email however because I just can’t stomach what I see going on around me with Proposition 8 in California (or Proposition H8 as I think of it). I don’t know who will read this, I don’t care about your counter argument if you don’t think the same way I do. I won’t change your mind, you won’t change mine. I’m only doing this to let like minded individuals know that there are others like you that share your opinions.
And now, the email:
First and foremost I wish to point out that, while a supporter of XXXXXXXX and one that has XXXXXXXXX, I believe in the what I believe was told to us by our forefathers and the founders of this country that there should be a clear division between church and state.
There are two types of marriage in this world. There is a legally binding contract that is issued by the State and there is a ceremony that can occur that may occur within a religious or non-religious capacity. My wife and I were married in a church and in that church we signed legal documents stating that we were legally married to one another. We chose to do this in the witness of God. I have a sister-in-law who was married before a Justice of the Peace in a civil ceremony where they signed legal documents stating that she and her husband were legally married to one another and they did not do this in a religious ceremony in any way, shape or form. Another sister-in-law was married by a person legally allowed to perform a ceremony with very little spiritual aspect to this ceremony but they too signed legal documents stating that they were legally married to one another.
The one constant you see in ALL of the examples listed above is that all of us signed a LEGAL DOCUMENT, forming a legally binding contract. This has nothing to do with the Bible, Jesus, God, Jehovah, Buddha or anyone else. It has to do with an agreement that occurs between two individuals and the State. Biblical definitions have nothing to do with Proposition 8. A persons LEGAL right to marry another person is about the completion of a CONTRACT, not a spiritual ceremony or a definition handed down by any religious doctrine.
There was a time in this country when women did not have the legal right to vote. There was a time when people of ethnic decent could not use the same resources that “white” people were allowed to use. These items have been corrected through legislation as they were items of prejudice. There was a time where two people of the same sex were not able to form a legally binding contract so that their assets could be legally bound to one another. THIS too has been corrected by legislation as it was an item of prejudice.
All of the above are items that are believed in my house, within my family. I do not expect to change the views of others. What I am attempting to do is make you aware that, while we do appreciate hearing matters that are relevant to XXXXXXXXX, we do not appreciate any political agendas being delivered to us by XXXXXXX while also letting you know the reasons why.
-WW
