Protecting religious freedoms?
In an article in the Art Pope Civitas publication, Capitol Connection ("Defending Marriage," April 2012), there was new, unconvincing justification for voting for Amendment One. According to the article, the passage of the amendment is essential, among other issues, "for protecting individual and religious freedoms here in North Carolina." What does that mean?
Whether the amendment passes or fails to pass, nothing will change in terms of individual freedom. There is already a state statute against same-sex marriage. Heterosexual freedom will remain the same. Discrimination against homosexuals will remain the same. The only freedom already being violated is that of gay and lesbians. So it seems to me that defeat of Amendment One and repeal of the existing statute would actually expand individual freedom.
Whether the amendment passes or fails to pass, nothing will change in terms of religious freedom. Religious practices in all congregations will continue as they have in the past. There will be no new regulations or restrictions in any religious community. Those congregations that look forward to the day when same-sex marriage will be permitted in the state are the congregations that will continue to have their religious freedom violated.
So it seems to me that defeat of Amendment One and repeal of the existing statute would actually expand religious freedom.
So glad I came upon the Civitas article, because now the issues are much clearer. I encourage all voters to vote against Amendment One.
ANNE GRIFFIS WILSON
Winston-Salem
A strong advocate
Larry Brown has been our representative in Raleigh, and we know him well. A former mayor of Kernersville currently serving his fourth term in the N.C. House of Representatives, Larry Brown has proven his dedication to conservative leadership.
Larry is a strong advocate of economic development and limited taxation. He believes in personal property rights and is against involuntary annexation.
This year's elections are the most important of our lifetime. Being the only candidate in District 74 with experience as a representative in Raleigh, he will hit the ground running. Larry's re-election will insure his continuing efforts to protect our future and the way of life we currently enjoy.
We hope that you will vote in the upcoming primary and cast your vote for Larry Brown for N.C. House of Representatives, District 74. You'll be glad you did.
JIM AND SUSAN HOBSON
High Point
Grand words
North Carolina has a constitution that begins with an enlightened Declaration of Rights. The very first section, Section 1, states, "We hold it to be self-evident that all persons are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor, and the pursuit of happiness."
Now, do we wish to sully these grand words by the proposed Amendment One that will in effect say, "... all persons are endowed with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty ... and the pursuit of happiness, unless you are gay "? We already have a law, unfortunately, that bans gay and lesbian marriage. Let's not add this unnecessary and ugly amendment to a noble document; an amendment that would complicate life for many other families in addition to gay and lesbian people.
Vote "No" on Amendment One, starting with early voting that began on April 19 or on Primary Election Day, Tuesday, May 8.
BOB CAVINESS
Winston-Salem
Science and college
What a strange juxtaposition on the April 24 op-ed page. On the one hand, there's columnist Charles Krauthammer mourning the loss of American pre-eminence in the sciences ("Farewell, the new Frontier") and on the other, there's Rep. Virginia Foxx, making it more difficult for American students to attend the colleges that would maintain our pre-eminence in the sciences ("An intolerable intolerance").
What does this mean? I don't know; it baffles me.
JOHN R. HONEYCUTT
Winston-Salem
Wildlife corridors
Wildlife biologist John Wooding wrote a wonderful guest column ("Winston-Salem really is where the wild things are," April 16) on the abundance and diversity of creatures found along our city's "wildlife corridors." These are the often-overlooked railway beds and power-line cuts that allow freedom of movement for animals ranging from rabbits to foxes and coyotes.
I would add only that there are more accessible wildlife corridors as well. Winston-Salem has a system of 10 well-maintained public greenways all over the city. There, too, one can look for raccoon tracks along a stream bed or see the gnawed tree trunks where beavers have been at work. An early-morning walker may encounter a grazing deer. Many birdwatchers prowl the greenways in search of species ranging from hummingbirds to herons, hawks and owls.
For information on Winston-Salem's greenway system, visit www.wsgreenways.org.
RICK MASHBURN
Winston-Salem
Insidious persecution
The writer of the letter "Persecution of Christians" (April 26) thinks that the Gospel Light Baptist Church in Walkertown being required to build sidewalks on the edge of its property "shows the insidious persecution of Christians these days."
Poor Christians! Being required to meet the same building standards that everyone else has to meet! Oh, except for paying taxes.
Poor Christians! They're being treated fairly with no special privileges! Obviously, the government is anti-Christian.
The persecution, it's insidious!
I imagine most "persecution of Christians" is just as credible and dangerous.
RICKY S. PHILLIPS
Winston-Salem
A very effective commissioner
I write this letter to offer my endorsement and support for John Bost for Forsyth County commissioner. John has a skill set and personality that I believe would make him a very effective commissioner. John is a tireless worker and is very dedicated to serving the residents he represents. As mayor of Clemmons, John has been very progressive and forward-thinking in his plans for the future. I am sure he would bring the same dedication and hard work to the office of county commissioner.
JIM HAYS
FORMER COUNCILMAN, VILLAGE OF CLEMMONS
Clemmons
Agree with Foxx
Having read the comments of Rep. Virginia Foxx regarding her little tolerance for people who graduate with $200,000 of debt ("Foxx remarks criticized," April 25), I agree wholeheartedly.
As a father of nine I couldn't agree more. All of my children, but one who is two classes short of a degree, have gone and graduated with less than $25,000 in debt. How? They worked, rearranged schedules, they did what they had to. They passed on Harvard, Yale and the like. And all together they received less than $5,000 from me.
They did it the right way. They earned it themselves.
In the second place, I don't see where our Constitution allows for these types of payments, anyway.
MIKE COFFEY
Advance
What God is saying
It's evident by all the letters we have to endure in the Journal supporting gay marriage by folks who identify themselves as Christian that way too many believers don't have a clue what God is saying to us through Scripture.
For the letter writer who wrote, "When your book is more important than people, there's a problem with your book" ("Some people," April 24), that book is God's gift for his people. The words in that book are his revelation to us on how to live and how not to live on this earth that he created for us so we can get back to him in heaven. It stands to reason that since he is our father, he loves us and wants what's best for us, and knows how best to achieve it. The "no's" are to keep us from hurting ourselves and others here so we get to the right place in the hereafter, which is permanent, by the way.
We are to see them from his perspective, which is the only one that counts, because "God is love" and cannot will anything but what is best for us.
And for those religious ministers leading your readers astray, God has a word or two for them in that book. They might want to read Second Peter 2 — all of it — and give prayerful consideration to recanting their erroneous beliefs that licentious, immoral behavior has anything to do with equal or civil rights. Immortal souls are at stake here.
BRENDA FORESTER
Lewisville
No change
I have read many articles alleging the marriage amendment is "Amendment One." What your readers will see on the ballot is the marriage amendment. This marriage amendment is to define what our state law already states: marriage is between a man and a woman. Nothing changes on May 9 that was in effect on May 8. There is no change in medical coverage. There is no change in child protection or custody that is currently in effect.
It is hard to believe that some people, including our governor, believe that this is going to preclude companies and new businesses from coming to North Carolina. With the law currently in effect, did this keep Caterpillar from starting a new plant here in our area? No, it was concerned about finding skilled labor and established a program with Forsyth Tech to accomplish that need. Did it do a survey or ask anybody about sexual preferences? Are the 30 states that have passed this marriage amendment suffering economically because of it?
This is not about discrimination, as many would have us to believe. This is about morality. Would any of us be here today if we weren't the result of the love between a man and a woman? Let's keep the definition of marriage what it has been and should be. Nothing changes after May 9.The state definition of marriage is the same as it was on May 8. Let's keep something sacred by voting for the marriage amendment.
ERWIN PAUL HOEING
Winston-Salem
Denying rights
The 1776 North Carolina constitution began: "A Declaration of the Rights made by the Representatives of the Freemen of the State of North Carolina." Since that time, the majority of constitutional amendments have extended the rights of citizens.
Now comes our Legislature in 2012 voting to allow a vote on amending the constitution to deny a minority of people their rights instead of establishing their rights. (At no time is it right to allow the majority to vote on the rights of the minority, but that's a whole other discussion.) What a sad commentary.
In addition to denying rights to gay and lesbian couples, this amendment has the potential to deny rights to non-married heterosexual couples, thus affecting not only the children of gay couples but those of heterosexual unmarried couples who may no longer have access to health insurance. It also allows domestic-violence perpetrators to use the defense that it is not domestic violence when he hits his girlfriend, since they are not married.
Wake up, citizens, educate yourselves, make sure you know that this poorly written amendment will actually take away rights from some fellow citizens whose only goal in life is to be happy with the partner of his/her choosing, and it has the potential to take away rights from children and domestic-violence victims.
DEBBIE WALKER
Kernersville
The lowest common denominator
I have become very tired and frustrated with the platforms that some of the politicians running for various offices, nationally and locally, advocate.
When I see or hear a politician state that he or she is a consistent conservative, all I hear is, "I will not compromise no matter the consequences." When I see or hear a politician state that "I am a Christian," all I hear is, "I am for a theocracy."
The appeal of these politicians is to the "low-information voters" (LIV), i.e., "I don't want to think or do research, just tell me what to think and do." I call this type of campaigning "appealing to the lowest common denominator."
The charge that our current president is doing nothing for our economy is a fine example of LIV non-thinking. According to the most recent economic reports (which I researched), consumers are helping propel the economy's slow recovery, as retail-sales numbers came in better than forecast this past week. The housing market has been dim recently, but improvement from a year ago is evident. Leading economic indicators increased for the sixth month in a row.
I am a 68-year-old "middle of the road Eisenhower-era Republican." Consequently, because of the hijacking of the Republican Party by the fundamentalist extreme right wing, I recently changed my registration to "non-affiliated."
Keep your religion to yourself and keep your advocacy of intrusive fascist laws out of my life!
DAVE HARMAN
Pfafftown
Whether the amendment passes or fails to pass, nothing will change in terms of religious freedom. Religious practices in all congregations will continue as they have in the past. There will be no new regulations or restrictions in any religious community.
ReplyDeleteAnne Wilson
Anne, did you know that one of the primary types of individuals that advocated against 'prayer' before Forsyth County Government meetings were gays and lesbians. That right, their disdain for religious groups is such that they want fight anything that has to do with Christianity and other religious groups.
In their eyes they may well feel it's well deserved fight. Did you know that one of the primary donors for the passage of Prop 8 in California were Utah Mormons? When gay and lesbian groups found out about it. They started publishing the names and addresses of the donors in various gay and lesbian magazines and newpapers. Guess what happened next? The Mormon donors started receiving threats. Add in the text in the Bible about homosexuality, and they don't like Christians too much.
I wish gays and lesbians would accept civil unions as a legally binding term and states would move toward approval of that type of legal and social term. However, they want much more. They want homosexuality to be viewed as 'normal' by society as a whole. They are so determined in their goal that they are trying to 'force' their type of sexuality on other people through public schools and other means.
That's one of the main reasons why we have the 'Marriage Protection Amendment' on the ballot today. The other main reason is because of liberal, activist judges (including gay and lesbian judges) that want to change the laws passed by the majority of people in those states.
You see Ann, the roots run deep on both sides. So this isn't going to be easy going forward and it's not going away whether the 'Marriage Protection Amendment/Amendment One' passes or fails.
Mr. Hoeing asks "Are the 30 states that have passed this marriage amendment suffering economically because of it?"
ReplyDeleteWell, we have no way of knowing that precisely, yet. Here's what we do know.
1. Only 24 states have a ban on gay marriage in their constitution, so the "30 states" number is the usual right wing lies.
2. Of those 24, only 8 (1/3) are ranked in the top half of state economies according to the latest listing. And most of those are very small states who benefit in one way or the other from the outrageous price of petroleum products.
3. So 16 (2/3) are ranked in the bottom half, most of those in the bottom third, including 11 of the worst 15.
4. When you map these bottom feeders, the map matches almost exactly the maps of the hard core Republican states, the bible belt and the "right to work" states, a big "L" that sweeps across the South and then runs up the central tier. Great company to be in.
Why do you lump right-to-work with the others? Why do you prize individual rights in all other areas but subordinate people's rights in favor of union privilege?
DeleteStab, it's pretty obvious that Rush is a big fat bigot in more ways than anybody realized. He's jumped on the northeastern bandwagon making slanderous statements that all southerners are dumb, and anybody that believes in the Bible is also dumb. Everybody is dumb except for him-Please!
DeleteUnion members have become the human parasites of our time. They are like rats that have to have a piece of cheese every hour on the hour or they result to violence and they start eating each other.
The small minded view of 'everybody' needs a union, and a government, to help them get through life is destroying this country.
But remember, some people know everything.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1, 3: Interesting point of view from Ms. Wilson. Same sex marriages can be performed in churches and can continue regardless of the passing of the amendment. It's just that those marriages aren't recognized as legal by the state. Same ceremony, same number of participants, both eligible to sign contracts; only difference is male/female vs. male/male or female/female. Under any other circumstance, that would be prohibited by the courts.
LTE 2: Endorsement. Yes, I know him well which is why he won't get my vote.
LTE 4: The stance taken by some of the R's against higher education baffles me. Don't they understand that knowledge plus technological advances equal a higher quality of living and greater affluence? Is this some sort of remnant of 150 years ago when the Southern states broke away to preserve their agrarian way of life built on slave labor against the Industrial Revolution that was sweeping across the globe? The days of supporting a family off just a HS education are coming to an end.
LTE 5: I see all kinds of wildlife out in K-ville as well. Unfortunately, they are often found lying dead in the street.
LTE 6: "Persecution of Christians" was idiotic. What's happening to Christians in parts of Ethiopia and Sudan is persecution. Being forced to uphold your part of a signed contract ain't.
LTE 7: Endorsement. "...John has been very progressive and forward-thinking in his plans..." - in some circles, that translates into him being socialist/marxist/communist. Heaven forbid someone actually has original ideas on how to solve our problems.
LTE 8: "They passed on Harvard, Yale and the like." LOL, did they pass on those schools or did those schools pass on them? $25k or less sounds like about the average debt a student will graduate with. Btw...elite private schools have huge endowments so that if a worthy student is admitted, their economic situation will not be a deterrent to their ability to enroll. Even UNC has a program designed for eligible students to graduate debt free for those from a low income background.
LTE 9: "God is love", so why disallow 2 people from expressing their love for each other in a marriage ceremony simply because they happen to be of the same gender? Theological arguments are irrelevent in the amendment conversation anyway.
LTE 10, 11: It's not up to the govt to keep anything "sacred". The Founders believed religion to be a private concern and of no business to the state. They had seen enough of state/church commingling in Europe. The proposed amendment states that marriage between a man and woman will be the only recognized union by the state. This excludes any other relationship between any other couple, straight or gay from being recognized. As Ms. Walker notes, there's no telling how that will affect agreements or laws that pertain to non-married couples until the courts are able to make rulings.
LTE 12: "Keep your religion to yourself and keep your advocacy of intrusive fascist laws out of my life!" Works for me.