Tuesday, October 21, 2008

"Eliminates the Right of..."

I don't know about you, but I typically vote "NO" on any referendum that starts out "Eliminates the Right of..."

Of course, I'm talking about California's Prop 8, "Eliminates the Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry".

For me as a Libertarian, this is an open-and-shut case. For the most part, a person can figure out what's better for him or her than an appointed bureaucrat. Doesn't seem so radical to me. Therefore, if two people want to establish a contract with
each other, they should be entitled to. Period. There's the further issue of what the government is doing telling you and/or your church who's allowed to marry who; in an ideal world there wouldn't be any laws at all about it. For now, it has to be fair. Therefore, I will vote NO on Proposition 8.

Many people who think they're conservatives or libertarians are vocal supporters of Prop 8. This is very strange because they're attempting to use the government to force their views on other Americans that are not harming them - as Jefferson said, a marriage can neither "break your leg nor pick your pocket". The fact that national-level special interests are trying to amend our state constitituion to force this down private citizens' throats is scary.

Vote NO on Prop 8 - "Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry". (Check it out on Facebook too).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

After this passes, and then after you roll it back, you wacky Californians need to make it harder to amend your Constitution!

Thomas Paine Jr. said...

Nah, you need to be able to fix your rule book when you think of an improvement. It does create a bit of a circus, you're right.

I was just thinking: as much as we all want this election to just be over, think of a person in China, who would LOVE to have government officials actually trying to court their opinion.

Anonymous said...

You have given me hope for our state! My parents are conservatives with a gay grandson and will vote no - but I wasn't sure what the conservative thoughts (outside the churches) were about this issue Thank you for speaking out against Proposition 8.

Thomas Paine Jr. said...

Susan, I think you hit the nail on the head ("outside the churches"). For conservatives who are interested in small government and individual rights, "NO on 8" should be a no-brainer. If your church doesn't want to perform same-sex marriages, fine; and if you don't want to belong to a church that performs same-sex marriage, fine, because we have freedom of religion. But don't try to make your church law into state law.

dbonfitto said...

It's foolish for the government to be involved in marriage at all. Civil unions for everyone! If you want to get 'married' then go to someone you consider an authority figure and have a special ceremony. If you believe in marriage as some kind of sacred vow, why would you want the government involved at all anyway?

Thomas Paine Jr. said...

Yes, exactly my argument Dan. For a L(l)ibertarian it's a no-brainer.