An All Inclusive Look At Proposition 8: How it will affect little 'ol me.

This email was forwarded to me from my sister. So far, it's the best email I've received on this topic because it has so much comprehensive information on this subject. It's something that I know many of you who read this feel is important to be educated on. So I thought it appropriate to include in blog land:

I have found that my priorities in this election seem to be quite different than many of my fellow Americans. I am deeply concerned about the social ramifications of the break down of the family. Because of this, I recently accepted the request to be the Executive Director of Family Leader Nevada. As such, I have shared the concerns of this network with not only many of my friends, but over 1000 Nevadans who have requested regular updates from this National organization. These emails were sent out approximately 1 per week. The topics covered were:

Gay marriage threatens religious freedom
California's Prop 8 should worry Nevadans
Impressionable young children are taught in the school setting about homosexual relationships
I am offering this information to any who chooses to read it. I personally look at the candidates records on these issues because I believe they will have spiritual consequences for my posterity and I am more concerned about these consequences than the temporal issues and consequences we find ourselves focused on now. I am also open to any discussion or different perspectives on these matters. That is what is so great about our country…we can have open discussion!

Gay Marriage Threatens Religious Freedom

Most of us know or have known homosexual individuals. Some of us associate with those who have an alternative life style on a daily basis. We have friendships and genuinely good relationships with these individuals. Concern over homosexual marriage is not about denying them the God given right of choice.

Many of those who originally came to this land came seeking religious freedom. This freedom is now threatened. Marc D. Stern discusses several concerns in an article in the LA Times "Gay marriage squeezes out religious freedom" http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-stern17-2008jun17,0,5628051.story. He discusses the following:


A San Diego fertility doctor was sued for refusing to perform artificial insemination for a partner of a lesbian couple for religious reasons. This physician had referred the patient to another doctor and there would be no extra cost to the patient.
Catholic Charities in Boston and San Francisco have ended their adoption services rather than being required to place children in the homes of same-sex couples due to anti-discrimination laws.
A private Lutheran school in Riverside County, CA, was sued for expelling two students that were having a lesbian relationship which is contrary to the religious views of the school.

I attended a meeting in California this summer that addressed concerns that religious institutions should have if Proposition 8 does not pass. The information was given by an attorney in California who was very familiar with California law. These concerns should be watched closely by religions in any state. The concerns he discussed include:

1. Litigation under employment anti-discrimination laws.
2. Litigation under fair housing laws (requiring married housing at religious institutions to allow same sex marriages.)
3. Litigation under public accommodation laws.
4. Litigation under hate speech laws. (One may hold a belief that homosexual marriages are not right for religious reasons but not talk about it or preach it from a pulpit)
5. Loss of tax exempt status for religions that will not perform same-sex marriages
6. Exclusion from government funding
7. Exclusion from licensing individuals to perform marriages (if one refuses to perform same sex marriages they can be refused the license to perform marriages altogether)

You can find out more about this issue by going to: http://familyleader.net/Home/servlet/viewArticle;jsessionid=A3286341DCD95C16F4068EB6411B15CC?contentId=2206&subsite

California's Prop 8 Should Worry Nevadans

Nevadans have reason to be very concerned about California's Proposition 8. In Nevada we have passed a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman.
California has no residency requirements to get married. That means that Nevadans could easily have homosexual marriages performed there and then come back to Nevada and legally challenge our state amendment.
Some are concerned that marriage protection amendments deprive same-sex couples of certain rights--like hospital visitation. When discussing this issue it is important to first note that in CA the law already provides for the equality of rights for spouses or domestic partners. Anywhere the term spouse is used, domestic partner must also apply.
Many use DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) to reassure Nevadans our constitutional amendment is safe. (For a complete definition of DOMA you may click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act). Barack Obama has stated that if elected President he will work to repeal DOMA. See this news reporthttp://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33425.
As more states vote on constitutional amendments it is expected that these constitutional amendments will be challenged at the Supreme Court of the United States. If DOMA is repealed, as Barack Obama has stated he would work to do, and a same gender marriage is performed in a state where it is legal and the couple then moves to a state with a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, one could argue using the Constitution of the United States that the state with the amendment must recognize the marriage that was performed where it was legal. Section 1 of Article IV in the US Constitution deals with each state honoring all others. It states, "Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State."
Impressionable Young Children Are Taught In The School Setting About Homosexual Relationships
If you have concern over very young children being exposed and taught in the school setting about homosexual relationships and homosexual marriages you must view these links.

This link shows a family in Massachusetts (where same gender marriage is legal) that was told they had no right to receive any parental notification when their kindergarten child was exposed to discussion of homosexual relationships in school. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1815820715?bctid=1822459319
This link will take you to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, October 11, 2008, discussing a field trip that a first grade class took to witness a lesbian wedding. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/11/MNFG13F1VG.DTL

For those of you who have actually made it through this whole email, I wish to share information regarding the topic of abortion. I am an RN and worked four years in a hospital nursery here in town. I personally witnessed on several occasions (not every day…but also not rarely) young women who were having their first actual birth of a full-term baby, but who had had several pregnancies. It was obvious these young girls used abortion as their form of birth control. I witnessed it for myself. It disappointed me then and continues to disappoint me that we have a society that has such a casual attitude towards the frequency with which this act occurs.

Another concern in this matter is late term abortions. I recently heard a nurse interviewed who held a baby for 45 minutes that was going to be left in a utility room to die after being aborted. She testified before the Illinois legislature when Barack Obama was a State Senator. You can view this interview at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z65F0z-UKmk
Here are two different fact checking sites that addressed whether the Illinois Born Alive Protection Act (discussed in the video clip) was the same as the Federal Bill that passed.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/763/
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/obama_and_infanticide.html

We all have a different hierarchy of priorities in evaluating candidates. Thanks for taking the time to let me share with you the issues that are so important to me.
Tammy Wood