Hoffman votes yes on gay marriage referendum [UPDATED]

Published 11:12am Thursday, May 12, 2011 Updated 1:27pm Thursday, May 19, 2011
Comments

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ST. PAUL — “We just decided that this is a decision the state of Minnesota should make.”

So said District 10 Senator Gretchen Hoffman on her decision to vote in favor of placing a gay marriage referendum on state ballots next year.

The state Senate on Wednesday approved a statewide vote in 2012 on a gay marriage ban in the Minnesota Constitution, pushing forward what’s expected to be a contentious debate over the definition of legal unions.

The Senate voted 38-27 in favor of the marriage amendment, with one Democrat joining all Republicans in support. The state House is expected to vote on the issue soon, and passage is likely in the Republican-led chamber.

State law already confines marriage in Minnesota to one man and one woman. But supporters of that definition said the extra protection is needed to guard against judicial rulings like one that legalized gay marriage in Iowa in 2009. Critics said it would enshrine discrimination in the state’s most important document, and that the debate between now and November 2012 would be divisive and a distraction from more important issues facing the state.

The Senate debate stretched past three hours.

“This is an issue that’s been around the Capitol for years and just around the general public,” said District 10 Senator Gretchen Hoffman. She said there are many groups at the Capitol advocating for the legalization of gay marriage, and putting the issue on the ballot is a way to make sure all Minnesotans have a say in the issue, not just the most vocal.

“Sometimes the squeaky wheel is who gets the oil,” she commented.

Hoffman echoed other GOP senators’ statements that it matters less what she or other legislators think about gay marriage and more about what the public at large thinks.

“This is a discussion that’s going on it our society… and we need the people of Minnesota to weigh in on that,” she said.

While Hoffman would not say how she would vote if the amendment makes to the 2012 ballot, she did say that “redefining what marriage means” could lead to social and societal ills, ills she already sees as she sits on the Health and Human Services Committee.

“(The cause of) just about all of our programs that we are spend so much money on I can point to the dissolution of families,” she said, adding that non-traditional family structures are not as conducive for raising children and forming productive societies.

“It’s been proven (that) what children need is a mother and a dad,” she said.

Hoffman added that she does not see the issue as one of civil rights.

“Marriage is not a right,” she said. “It’s a responsibility and an obligation.”

She added that homosexuals are free to assemble, bear arms, worship how they chose and access every other right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

“I would defend anybody’s rights,” she said.

She is confident the referendum will be passed by the Minnesota House of Representatives, and she said that passing it now gives the public plenty of time to discuss the issue before the 2012 election.

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Comments
  1. John Magnuson May 12, 2011 at 12:37 pm <Link>

    What Ms. Hoffman really means when she says “I would defend anybody’s rights” is that she will defend the rights of those who think the same as she does.

  2. Cowboy Eleven May 12, 2011 at 1:34 pm <Link>

    Just another fringe issue Republicans want to put on the ballot to incite their base and get more of them to the polls. Their modus operandi is to avoid real issues and resort to trickery.

  3. mike c May 12, 2011 at 4:44 pm <Link>

    I support Gretchen on most issues, but this is just wrong. Poor choice by our senator. She should have stood up for what is right!

  4. Will Rogers May 12, 2011 at 5:06 pm <Link>

    We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.

  5. Gaylan Mathiesen May 12, 2011 at 7:05 pm <Link>

    Kudos to Senator Hoffman in ensuring that all Minnesotans have a voice on this issue, not just the politically powerful. Marriage has been a societal building block since the earliest of times. To grant the homosexual basic human rights is fine, but to redefine basic components of any stable society, such marriage and family, is not a right for any political group to claim. It’s a standard ploy for those who want to do away with institutions that make a society strong to call defenders of those institutions prejudiced, bigoted, homophobes or whatever. So be it. All the people of Minnesota have a right to voice their convictions on this issue. The senator is correct to say that basic human rights guaranteed by the constitution will be upheld, but redefining the ancient and basic institutions of marriage and the family is not a right guaranteed by the constitution. People of the same sex will live together in committed relationships if they want to, they just don’t have the right to have it recognized for what it is not: marriage.

  6. Merle Hexum May 12, 2011 at 7:58 pm <Link>

    I think you liberals forget wher rights come from! They come from God, not government.

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

    The right to pervert marriage is not a right, but a curse on any society.

    You also forget that marriage is not an institution established by the state, but by God.

    Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

    Remember also that God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.

  7. Merle Hexum May 12, 2011 at 8:00 pm <Link>

    18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
    28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although (they know God’s righteous decree) that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things (but also approve of those who practice them.)

    Romans 1

  8. May 12, 2011 at 8:09 pm <Link>

    Merle you know where you can stick you Biblical BS!
    accoding to the Bible slavery is ok, as is selling your own daughter into sexual slavery of which she may only escape if her master decides to stop having sex with her and lets her go.
    what a book of trash and blatant plagiarisms.
    but hey why stop at singling out the gays? lets face reality.
    the real reason there isn’t enough jobs, is because our system was designed to support an male dominated workforce.
    not trying to be a sexist but, it’s a fact! our system was set up to support a Male head of household working while the women stayed home with the kids.
    so to Ms. Hoffman, what are you doing?
    denying a man his proper employment and service to this country?
    get back in the kitchen, maybe then you’ll be more able to recognize why denying people equality sucks so much for the ones on the receiving end of the HATE CRIME!
    Gays deserve just as much right as anyone else to be married, hell, most of their marriages last longer.
    they marry for actual love, not to leech of the others paycheck so much.

  9. May 12, 2011 at 8:20 pm <Link>

    I say we ban marriage and citizenship for Christians at least until they face the truth about their religions origins and demonstrate a working knowledge of the proven fact concerning Christianity.
    Gods name is EL.
    same as the Canaanites God.
    He used to go by the name Baal.
    says so in the Bible.
    Abraham and his kin believed in many Gods.
    God had a wife whom was written out of later versions of the bible.
    equal to El, whom for some strange reason is depicted in physical appearance exactly like Baal, and Osirus of Ancient Egypt.
    thus begging the question, could the God of the Bible be those same Gods adapted for a newer political agenda?
    lol
    painfully obvious to even a child
    I would think.
    But I have always been prone to giving people in this community far too much credit.
    molesting the bible to justify oppression against others is exactly the scam of the 3rd Reich.
    shameful! and yet these hate filled anti Americans claim to be “real Americans” unlike those like me whose family members have died in service of this country in Afghanistan.
    maybe if we didn’t have Republicans prolonging the war and refusing to do what Obama finally did, My cousin wouldn’t have had to die for these aholes?

  10. May 12, 2011 at 8:58 pm <Link>

    Hey Merle, I wonder if you’ve given any thought to having someone else post comments for you after May 21st , since you won’t be here after that date.

  11. Merle Hexum May 13, 2011 at 12:17 am <Link>

    WOW! The heathen are coming out of the woodwork tonight. If you want to see anger from the left, just point out that God calls Homo-sexuality an abomination, and the venom just oozes out of them. The heathen shout: We will not let anyone, even God, tell us what to do!

    Psalm 2 1Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

    B Edlund, Calling oneself a conservative, does not make one a conservative. Believing that society should be forced to accept and endorse homo-sexual marriages is a liberal, new age progressive philosophy. I know that just makes you irrational.

    Brendan Janssen, Whether you believe in God or not is irrelevant, our rights still come from Him. However, the people who elect our government have and must continue to take that side, so the truth that rights come from God is legally worthy. Society should not be forced to recognize perversion as acceptable just because that is their immoral choice and their twisted life-style; because God finds it an abomination and the Government should not condone sin. Whom you commit yourselves to is your choice, but do not make everyone else recognize and accept it. If you understand the word of God, you will know that they will go to Hell (unless the repent) and that is their choice, I wish they would stop trying to force their beliefs upon the rest of us. They have the right to do what they want without looking for public approval or church sanctioning. Government has no position to recognize perverted marriage.

    Brendan Janssen, you do not believe in God just as I do, because if you did, you would know that when it comes to any issue, God’s word is useful and necessary. This country was founded on Biblical principles, so its laws must be based on the Bible. I will be respectful of others and not try to oppress them because of MY beliefs. If they want to shack up, be my guest. It is their choice and will not affect me in any way. Let them be and do what they want I say! (as long as they do not force society to accept or sanction it.)

    As far as Acker and Cooper, you have heard enough truth to make your own decision, I won’t continue trying to educate those who refuse to hear.

    Matthew 7:6 Don’t give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don’t throw pearls down in front of pigs. They will trample all over them.

  12. Deborah Boeddeker May 13, 2011 at 12:25 am <Link>

    Isn’t being in a healthy, happy family no matter the sexes of the parents more important? I would fear being in a family who are too quick to judge others for any reason, just for wanting to raise their children in a happy and healthy home. Hearing all this negative republican garbage is certainly NOT healthy for any children!

  13. May 13, 2011 at 1:15 am <Link>

    regardless of your political or religulous leanings, All people are subject you affinity or “Love” for others and therefore have the right to chose whom to spend their lives with, even if they feel they need to enter a legal binding contract as so kind of celebration of it.
    it’s unfortunate that some in this country feel they are entitled to strip others of these normal social interactions, and command that they not refer to their union as Marriage.
    land of the free?
    not if those loyal to mother church have anything to say about it.
    same as it was when secular followers of Dr. John Dee decided to rebel against that same outdated disgusting garbage in 1776.
    tories and loyalists surround us and are proverbially defecating, urinating, and spewing all over the graves of ever soldier who died in service to this country protecting the Constitution.

    “real Americans indeed” lol

  14. Merle Hexum May 13, 2011 at 1:19 am <Link>

    What is next one the lefts agenda, bestiality? Don’t laugh, 30 years ago it would have been considered ridiculous if you would have said that people in the next generation would actually be condoninmg sex between people of the same gender!

    Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. 23 Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

  15. Jake Krohn May 13, 2011 at 11:40 am <Link>

    The future of reasoned discourse around this issue rests on the ability of the populace to recognize “marriage,” the legal act, apart from the institution of marriage as promoted by various religions. Let’s not confuse the two.

    An enlightening conversation could be had if we can look beyond the usual “gay marriage is the downfall of society” hysteria and ask ourselves if it is really our place to mandate, via the state constitution or otherwise, the particular arrangement of sexes that constitutes a legally-recognized marriage. (Small government types, beware! Here be complications to your worldview!)

    Several commenters here (Brendan, B Edlund) have already pointed out the wrongness of allowing discrimination based on religious morality to leech into what is a secular legal issue.

    Everyone talks about freedom of religion. It would be nice to see freedom *from* religion, which is the other side of the same coin, get equal play.

  16. Bill Folger May 13, 2011 at 2:11 pm <Link>

    What about bisexuals? Aren’t they being left out and excluded by the state too. Shouldn’t they be permitted to marry the two they are in love with? You people are so cold hearted. This is who they are. It’s not going to harm me in any way if they are to commit to a relationship with the state sanctioning their marriage.

  17. Gaylan Mathiesen May 13, 2011 at 3:33 pm <Link>

    When you consider this issue, you must take into account where redefining marriage to include same-sex couples will lead. Next will follow adoption, which has been hotly debated. For example, about 10 years ago the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) endorsed same-sex parenting, but their research was immediately challenged. Drs. Robert Lerner and Althea Nagai, experts in quantitative analysis, examined 49 studies on same-sex parenting. They found no basis for the conclusion that children raised by homosexual parents fare just as well as those raised by homosexual parents, but instead found serious methodological flaws in each of the studies examined, including inadequate sample size, biased sample selection, lack of proper control groups and the failure to account for confounding variables. In fact the AAP’s own report began by saying, “Accurate statistics regarding the number of parents who are gay or lesbian are impossible to obtain.” Many pediatricians and physicians have also condemned the report, challenging its assumptions and criticizing the research cited by the committee as “seriously flawed.” Even the AAP’s own poll regarding the issue on their “members only” Web site showed 75 percent of those responding strongly disagreed with the committee’s report. What does come out in studies are facts like these: Children raised by homosexual parents are more likely to experience gender and sexual confusion, more likely to become promiscuous and more likely to experiment with homosexual behavior. They are at greater risk of losing a parent to AIDS, substance abuse or suicide. Children raised in a stable, married, heterosexual home do better than children raised in any other type of household. They are healthier physically and emotionally, do better academically, experience less poverty and commit fewer crimes. Children need both a mother and a father. Sociologist David Popenoe of Rutgers University has done extensive research on the different functions that mothers and fathers play in children’s lives. Same-sex couples cannot provide both. We need to think of how redefining marriage to include same-sex couples will impact children, and eventually society. Are you ready for a same-sex couple to come to your child’s or grandchild’s classroom and promote the gay lifestyle? It’s already happening.

  18. Merle Hexum May 13, 2011 at 3:45 pm <Link>

    Most of you all are throwing around a word that you know not what it means. Gay is not the correct word to describe people living in perversion. It was a self-proclaimed term, from about 40 years ago, to make the evil life style seem more acceptable or be more palatable. Gay is a word which describes an emotion that means to have joy or happiness. True joy only comes from walking with God, not rebelling against Him.

    GAY: Excited with merriment; manifesting sportiveness or delight; inspiring delight; livery; merry.

    SODOMY: Carnal copulation in a manner against nature; buggery.

    BUGGERY: The unnatural and detestable crime of carnal intercourse of man or woman with a beast; or of human beings unnaturally with each other.

    QUEER: At variance with what is usual or normal; differing in some odd way from what is ordinary; odd; singular; strange; whimsical; as, a queer story or act.

    Colossians 2:8 See to it that nobody enslaves you with philosophy and foolish deception, which conform to human traditions and the way the world thinks and acts rather than Christ.

    Romans 12:1-2 So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.

  19. Gary Llewellyn May 13, 2011 at 5:51 pm <Link>

    I think the best thing would be to ignore Mr. Hexum.

    He obviously takes delight in baiting all of you over an issue that should have nothing to do with our government (separation of a certain two entities).

    Granted, I’m sure his posts will die down to a trickle this evening, as he will be busy attending services at the local branch of the Westboro Baptist church where he has volunteered his young children to help paint “god hates f*gs” signs.

    That is all.

  20. Gary Llewellyn May 13, 2011 at 6:17 pm <Link>

    faggot fagot [ˈfægət]

    1. a bundle of sticks or twigs, esp when bound together and used as fuel
    2. (Engineering / Metallurgy) a bundle of iron bars, esp a box formed by four pieces of wrought iron and filled with scrap to be forged into wrought iron
    3. (Cookery) a ball of chopped meat, usually pork liver, bound with herbs and bread and eaten fried
    4. a bundle of anything

    1. to collect into a bundle or bundles
    2. (Clothing, Personal Arts & Crafts / Knitting & Sewing) Needlework to do faggoting on (a garment, piece of cloth, etc.)
    [from Old French, perhaps from Greek phakelos bundle]

  21. May 13, 2011 at 7:08 pm <Link>

    what this entire issue comes down to is “do you believe in equality?”
    or do you feel you are superior to others and therefore have the right to strip them of the rights this nation was founded to protect?

  22. May 13, 2011 at 8:18 pm <Link>

    The 21st of May can not come soon enough.

  23. Peter Olson May 13, 2011 at 11:01 pm <Link>

    Wow!!! Politics and religion in 1 comment area. I congratulate the Senate on trying to place this on the ballot for the voters to decide, I think it is the correct choice. Mr. Hexum is correct that the laws of the land were based on the Christian beliefs of the times, primarily Puritan and Quaker if I am not mistaken. Mr. Janssen is also correct that if you do not believe in the Christian God your rights come from law and if you do belive in the Christian God, they come from God. It has been several years since I have had a theology course but I was taught there are 4 books of the Bible that are the Word of God (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) the others in the New Testament are writings of prophets not the Word of God. The Old Testament is comprised of books of prophets and collections of stories handed down by word of mouth for many generations until a written language was established and not to be taken literally. Last I checked, there isn’t anything in the 4 Gospels that directly denounces homosexuality but I am sure I will corrected. And which bible are you using? I assume it is one established after the Council of Nicea (sp) which in essence censored the religious works or a reformed bible which further censored religious works to serve their own purpose at the time. What happened to the adage that was drilled into all Christians at an early age “God loves all people and is a forgiving God?” Or what about the large segment of US Citizens that aren’t Christians? Using Christian beliefs to form governmental policy in today’s society is wrong and borders on a violation of separation of church and state. I am a very conservative person (ala John Birch) but not allowing gays, women, minorities equality is JUST WRONG.

  24. Merle Hexum May 14, 2011 at 2:43 am <Link>

    (It has been several years since I have had a theology course)

    Therein lies your problem; you were taught by men, not by God Himself.

    2 Peter 1:20-21 First, you must understand this: No prophecy in Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation. No prophecy ever originated from humans. Instead, it was given by the Holy Spirit as humans spoke under God’s direction.
    1 John 2: 20But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. 27But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

    (I was taught there are 4 books of the Bible that are the Word of God (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) the others in the New Testament are writings of prophets not the Word of God.)

    You were taught wrong! John Wooden once said: “Practice does not make perfect, it makes permanent.” What you were taught several years ago has caused you to think wrongly. The Apostle Peter associated the Apostle Paul’s writing as being part of scripture.

    1 Thessalonians 2: 13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

    2 Peter 3: 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

    (The Old Testament is comprised of books of prophets and collections of stories handed down by word of mouth for many generations until a written language was established and not to be taken literally.)

    Unfortunately for you, both Paul and Jesus disagree with you.

    Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

    2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

    (Last I checked, there isn’t anything in the 4 Gospels that directly denounces homosexuality but I am sure I will corrected.)

    First; you are coming from the premise that only the gospels are the word of God, which is inaccurate to begin with. Secondly; Jesus did talk about marriage concerning man and woman. It being obvious that same sex did not belong together, that the need to address it in the gospels was not needed.

    Matthew 19:4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

    (And which bible are you using? I assume it is one established after the Council of Nicea (sp) which in essence censored the religious works or a reformed bible which further censored religious works to serve their own purpose at the time.)

    I’m using the Words that God not only promised to maintain and protect, but the ones He has actually been able to preserve for thousands of years.
    Your argument is not a new argument, it was actually first used by your father back in the garden. The first thing that he attempted to do was to get the woman to doubt the authenticity of God’s word, the second thing he tried to do was to get her to doubt the consequences for disobeying God’s word.

    Genesis 3: 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.

    (What happened to the adage that was drilled into all Christians at an early age “God loves all people and is a forgiving God?”)

    Unfortunately they left the people with ½ truths, which equates to a lie. They forgot to tell them that repentance was a required response to that love. They only talked about the goodness of God, but left out the severity of God.

    Romans 11:22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

    Ezekiel 18:22 You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, but I didn’t want them to be sad. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins.

    (Or what about the large segment of US Citizens that aren’t Christians?)

    They’ve all been blessed for many years living in a country which was founded on God’s laws. You do not have to be a Christian in order to benefit from obeying God’s truths.

    (Using Christian beliefs to form governmental policy in today’s society is wrong)

    Using God’s laws in any society is wise, if you want the nation to go on prospering.

    Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.

    “We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”
    Abraham Lincoln

    (and borders on a violation of separation of church and state.)

    I addressed this myth earlier.

    (I am a very conservative person (ala John Birch)

    Agreeing with liberals on any issue does not qualify one as being “very conservative”, rather it makes you a moderate and it also makes you wrong.

    (but not allowing gays, women, minorities equality is JUST WRONG.)

    Forcing all of society to accept and embrace the Homosexual lifestyle is JUST WRONG.
    Equating gender and racial differences which God has uniquely created, with sexual preferences that Satan has perverted is also JUST WRONG.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foyF7u2Z9Os&feature=youtu.be

  25. Gaylan Mathiesen May 14, 2011 at 12:01 pm <Link>

    I suggest moving this conversation from a “religious” vs “non-religious” context to one that approaches the debate from a sociological standpoint. It is correct to say this is not about a religious view of marriage, but about a civil view. That does not, however, remove all concern over redefining marriage as a social institution. Neither does it mean that all religious conviction has to be shelved, any more than philosophical views have to be entirely shelved. That’s impossible. However, the scientific research data alone demonstrates that abandoning long-held views of family and marriage will have strong negatives effects on our kids for generations to come. This is where the debate needs to happen. This isn’t about what’s good for either “heathens” or “religous bigots,” nor is it merely a liberal vs conservative debate. The sociological data speaks for itself. You can’t sustain a stable society when you blow it’s basic building block to smithereens. We can find ways to guarantee equal rights under the law for all without redefining marriage and family. That’s what motivated legislation to give perks to traditional families to begin with–the recognition that that protection of the historically define family is vital to the ongoing strength, stability and sustainability of any society. Turning the debate into a “Christianity vs Atheists” culture war will sidetrack us from looking at the really important issues here that will profoundly impact our children and grandchildren, and that’s unfortunate.

  26. Merle Hexum May 15, 2011 at 8:05 am <Link>

    We as individuals and as a nation can choose to either accept Him or reject Him.

  27. Mr lincoln May 15, 2011 at 10:29 am <Link>

    Who cares if gays want to get married, they should be allowed to be as miserable as the rest of us!!!

  28. William Schulz May 16, 2011 at 12:12 am <Link>

    Regardless your feelings or beliefs about legalizing homosexual/lesbian marriages, the people have a right to have a say in the matter, as this referendum will provide.
    It is factual that in every State where the matter was put to the voters, the voters elected to preserve the foundation of our society, the traditional family built upon the marriage of a man and woman. Those States where homosexual/lesbian marriage has been authorized have either had it imposed upon them by a legislature or by a court ruling, or have had the legitimate outcome of citizens’ elections denying homosexual/lesbian marriage overturned by a carefully selected liberal judge. We have the right to have a say in the matter, lets get to it.

  29. Gary Llewellyn May 16, 2011 at 6:36 pm <Link>

    Good _grief_. Mr. Hexum cannot be taken seriously considering his obvious bias when it comes to debating an issue.

    I just hope I’m not eating lunch in burger king when you decide to drop by and shoot the place up in the name of christian values. You, sir are a ticking time bomb.

    There is no god, Merle. If there was, he would have struck you down with impunity years ago.

    May Alexander the Great have mercy on your soul.

  30. Merle Hexum May 17, 2011 at 3:20 am <Link>

    Mr. Llewellyn

    WOW! You add so much to the conversation. Your endless supply of resources to substantiate your views is just amazing! You got me, I cannot compete against such wisdom and knowledge.

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