Happy Mother's Day to all W-S Journal LTE 05/13/12

Bring on the lawsuits

So, the marriage amendment has been approved by the voters. Cue the lawsuits.

This amendment is challengeable for so many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that the language that is to go into the state's constitution is not the language that was printed on the ballot.

How does that fact alone not invalidate the whole thing? So, bring on the lawsuits. Hello, ACLU?

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ERNEST J. LUNSFORD

Winston-Salem

Protecting rights

North Carolina along with about 30 other states have passed amendments to their various state constitutions opposing same-sex marriage. I thought constitutions were written to protect citizens' rights, not to take them away.

Are the Republicans now going to want to change or maybe even eliminate that part of our Pledge of Allegiance that says "with liberty and justice for all"?

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FRED MULCOX

Winston-Salem

Sum It Up

The Sum It Up question from Wednesday was: Are you satisfied with the results of the 2012 primaries?

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Absolutely not! I see that discrimination has come out of the closet in the form of Amendment One. Is this what they are teaching in church these days?

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ALEXANDER W. PITCHER

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More or less. Not much changes, no matter who I vote for.

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WILLIAM SAMS

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Voting in the primaries was OK. I am waiting on November to see a change.

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ELIZABETH R. ERVIN

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The approval of Amendment One reminded me of an astute bit of philosophy from Forrest Gump: "Stupid is as stupid does."

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PAUL S. KENNEDY

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I feel very disappointed that the marriage amendment passed. This amendment was wrong for many reasons. I think the people who voted for it must not have understood the damage it could do to a segment of our society.

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NAOMI J. DAVIS

Sum It Up

This week's Sum It Up question is:

Is there any middle ground left in American politics?

Correspondent of the week: Political discourse

Political discourse

Arriving home from my out-of-state college, I was dismayed to find the political discourse of North Carolina in a deplorable condition. In just a few days I've seen people who are usually indifferent to political issues become vehemently angry at anyone with whom they disagree. Those who usually voice their political opinions are even worse. One would think, based on the accusations of countless posts and tweets that clutter my social networking pages, that half our state is populated by hateful sociopaths devoted to the moral or social decay of the world.

The issue of Amendment One is, by nature, contentious. It should be a bit contentious; it is about time we had a serious conversation about the government's role in marriage. This is an important issue that we need to resolve through discourse. But what we are getting is hardly worth calling discourse.

I believe that most people who voted were neither hardheaded bigots nor immoral anarchists — to say otherwise would be, sadly, to repeat the "arguments" that have been exchanged on either side.

This isn't how political issues are resolved. This isn't how any issue can be resolved. If we really want to make progress, we can sit down with the opposition, treat them like adults, and have a civil discussion.

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JOHN SAILER

Lewisville