13 October 2008
Protecting the Family
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: Guest Blogger; Judaeo-Christian Values Under Attack .
Guest Blog by Sharon Anderson
There are only three and a half weeks left before election day, and while most of the nation is focused on whether Obama or McCain is ahead in the poles, there is something happening in California that may make more of a difference than who is elected President. In California voters will be saying yes or no to Proposition 8.
In the year 2000, the people of California voted on Prop. 22, which stated that we recognize marriage to be the union of a man to a woman. Recently, and with full media support, four (only four!) California Supreme Court Judges decided that the people’s vote had no value (61% voted for Prop. 22) and they overturned th at vote. This ruling has opened a literal floodgate of homosexual mar riages in the state. To stem this tide and to strive to bring some semblance of morality back into California, Prop. 8 has been put on this year’s ballot. Prop. 8 will amend the California Constitution to read, ‘Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.’ [Several] other state’s constitutions have similar amendments. In California Prop. 8 is facing fierce opposition.
On Wed Oct 8, the LDS church held a special broadcast on this proposition aimed at rallying members (and non-members) to work in a ‘grass roots’ effort supporting Prop. 8, the ‘marriage initiative’. While it was a political rally of sorts, t was reiterated several times that normally the church does NOT get involved in the political process — they will NEVER tell the members who to vote for, what political party they should align to, etc. However, when it comes to moral issues and be it known, THIS IS A MORAL ISSUE, they (the church) have the right or rather the obligation to exercise their right to free speech.
One attendee made the following observation: It should be emphasized that the intent of Prop 8 is not to bring “morality” back to California. It is far more than that. It is to prevent the destruction of our religious liberty and our freedom of speech, and to protect our right as parents to teach morality to our own children. Gays will continue to be gays, in virtually all cases, and Prop 8 has no intention of stemming the tide of civil unions. It is to prevent a Pandora’s box opening in which the Church and other churches will be sued to attempt to force us to change our doctrines, and other things I’ve already noted.
Another reported: “We were reminded over and over again, that we need to be sensitive (never rude or condescending) to others who do not share our moral values, however we must make a stand when we are confronted with moral issues. Many. . . struggle with same gender attraction on a daily basis. In a sense, they are no different than the personal struggles (temptations/sins) you and I have to deal with in our lives. Surely if someone held our personal temptations/sins up to public ridicule, we would be sorely offended. We should live as Christ did, by loving the sinner not the sin.
“We were also reminded that it is NOT SENSATIONALISM to think that were same gender marriage allowed to stand and to become legal, it could lead to extreme shifts in what is taught in our public schools (’sex’ education for example). Also this will FORCE churches to marry same gender couples or loose their Tax Exempt Status. Those churches who would never capitulate or lower their standards would therefore become ’illegal’ institutions. If we ponder this we can see why this is so serious.
“In a small production aimed at educating young people (and old) on the full ramifications of all this. Elder Bednar described ’the Tyranny of Tolerance’. That is to say, tolerance is supposed to be a two-way street — you have your opinion and I have mine — let’s just get along. Unfortunately, we have been shown over and over again that the opposition will only ‘tolerate’ THEIR VIEWS as being acceptable. This is a form of TYRANNY at it’s worst; for they will never stop until we have EMBRACED their lifestyle and adopted their ‘morality’. He ag ain brought up the fact that public schools wil l have to teach this form of (im)morality in their ‘health’ classes. Parents (you and me) will teach the Lord’s standard at home, while everyday our little ones from K-12, will be force-fed (as with Darwin’s ‘Theory’ of Evolution) EVERY FACET of this ‘alliterative’ lifestyle. That is how serious this is! A plea was made for for young adults, married and not, to get involved and do all they can in their sphere. Young people with their skills in using the Internet and other electronic media (texting) can have also be a powerful influence in promoting this Proposition.
It has been suggested that individuals both in California and as well as in other states donate 4 hours/week to contact voters in California with the focus primarily being on ‘undecided’ voters as well as getting advocates out to vote. Perhaps we can stem the tide, even if but for a moment, by taking a stand for what is good and right.
For more information you can go to:
http://www.preservingmarriage.org/
http://www.protectmarriage.com/
If you would like to help, please contact kschevrier@comcast.net for phone lists, get involved in blogs, talk to your friends in California and/or go to protectmarriage.com to give donations.
Comments are closed at this time. Thank you for reading our posts!