Proposition 8 passed in California with 52 percent of the vote, but the issue behind prop 8 has been fine when it is left alone. So, why was it even on the ballot in the first place? The legal reason is obvious, but the real “why” has to do with the question, “what is the state doing in our wedding chapels?”
The official ballot label said prop 8 “eliminates the rights of same-sex couples to marry,” which is exactly what it did. Or, if you’re on the religious right it’s the “California Marriage Protection Act,” to preserve the sanctity of marriage. But again, why is this even on the ballot? Marriage shouldn’t be a political issue.
Way back in the ancient days, marriage was a religious thing only. If you’re of the Judeo-Christian persuasion, Adam and Eve (not Adam and Steve) were the first married couple. In ancient Greece, pedistry and other forms of same sex relationships were valued higher than relationships between men and women.
The first time marriage becomes a political issue is when John Calvin, religious reformationist, imposed the marriage act of Geneva, which allowed the state to recognize religious marriage. Martin Luther attempted to get marriage in the state, but according to Early Christian History and Literature Professor at Hope International University Dr. Paul Matson, (No relation to the MC Professor of the same moniker) Calvin was the first to succeed in getting marriage into law.
Nowadays, the religious concept of marriage is so tied up in politics and law, there are only certain ways you can get married, certain people who can perform the marriage, and other legal issues surrounding it.
Married couples also have rights that unmarried couples technically aren’t afforded, such as power of Attorney, visitation rights in hospitals, being the legal guardian over a child, that extra tax for being married, as well as other ties recognized by the states, according to Marriage, Family and Residence by Paul Bonannan and John Middleton.
So how did the State of California end up where it is preparing to vote on Marriage? In 2000, 61 percent of California voters, according to protectmarriage.org, approved a change to the California Family Code, adding that a marriage is between a man and a woman.
In Feb. of 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom started performing gay marriages and in March, the Supreme Court puts a stay on those marriages being performed.
On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the change was unconstitutional and opened the doors for same sex marriages. This week, the voters of the state of California voted to end the recognition and performing of these same-sex marriages by adding a line into the California Constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
None of this needed to happen. California needs to remove any mention of marriage from its constitution. Schools don’t need to teach about marriage. That is the kind of thing families and the church should teach children. Churches need to decide on their own what kind of marriages they will perform. Just as a restaurant can reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, a Church should be granted that same right as to who they marry.
Not everyone will like this of course, but democracy is about majority rule and minority rights. Separation of church and state needs to go both ways. The church shouldn’t influence the government, and government shouldn’t influence the church. The state should recognize and only perform civil unions. It should recognize religious marriage as a civil union, and any courts appointed or otherwise regulated civil union as valid, and apply rights accordingly.
According to the California New York Times, $60 million was spent to battle over this proposition, with $15 million coming from out of state. For those worried about family values, teach your own family and don’t try to force your values on someone else. For the state, don’t judge equality on anything. Equality should be reserved for everyone without exception, and the sanctity of marriage should be respected, but that argument went out the window, thanks to a 55-hour nuptial by Brittney Spears, the divorce rate being 50 percent, and the fact that you can have a “Star Wars” wedding.
