Shot in the Dark

Why The Marriage Amendment Is A Bad Idea

State Constitutions don’t, and aren’t supposed to, exist at the same level of majestic purity as the United States Constitution. The process to amend the US Constitution is intentionally very, very difficult – because its intention is to define, at a high level, the relationship between (plug your ears, Liberals – your unions and professors will spank you even for reading this)  a free association of equals and a government constituted of, by and for them.   Not to nail down every nuance of that relationship.

The US Constitution reserves powers to the states – and those powers are laid out in the various State Constitutions.

The idea that defining marriage – even into a form that we social conservatives approve of – is a dangerous one; we are one DFL sweep away from having them repeal the amendment and put forth one requiring all people to become civil partners with their dogs, with power of attorney.

Government, as a rule, at all levels, should butt out of peoples’ personal lives.  Including their marriages.  The family has survived for millenia as the bedrock of civilization, without government to define it.  It in its genuine form will survive government as well.

Will it survive government’s attempt to define it?  When has that ever worked?

And Rep. John Kriesel makes a good point; while the referendum exists for a reason, people shouldn’t have a right to vote about what people do with their personal lives – provided it doesn’t harm others, and by “harm” we mean literally and tangibly.


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17 responses to “Why The Marriage Amendment Is A Bad Idea”

  1. […] my “Why The Marriage Amendment Is A Bad Idea” post, I note that using the full weight and power of government to define marriage is […]

  2. J. Ewing Avatar
    J. Ewing

    Actually, defining marriage legally was one of the great inventions of the American experiment. Seems reasonable to me that we wouldn’t want to let a few special-interest zealots and a couple wacky judges undo that.

  3. Bill C Avatar
    Bill C

    we are one DFL sweep away from having them repeal the amendment

    The legislature can repeal constitutional amendments? I’m surprised the formerly DFL majority legislature didn’t repeal the “hunting and fishing are historically recognized activities and shall forever be allowed in the state of MN” amendment to placate the envirowacko left. Or does there need to be a supermajority to do that?

  4. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    Berg is flirting with a glitter shower.

  5. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    J. Ewing wrote:
    “Actually, defining marriage legally was one of the great inventions of the American experiment. Seems reasonable to me that we wouldn’t want to let a few special-interest zealots and a couple wacky judges undo that.”

    No it wasn’t; marriage was defined long before ‘the American Experiment’.

    You’re right, we don’t want a few right wing special interest zealots undoing marriage. Because it seems a majority of Americans are not homophobes, and DO favor same sex marriage on an equal basis with heterosexual marriage. Recognizing same sex marriages does no harm to families or the institution. It’s just one more version of the right’s culture wars that is out of step with the rest of Ameica and the world.

    Mitch, this is off topic (apologies) but I may have missed you updating any new developments or new information – credible informaiton – on the Crow Wing County false claims of voter fraud.

    Before you or the Mitchketeers ask, the latest developments on the Affinity Scam are up on Penigma and at the Star Tribune:

    http://penigma.blogspot.com/2011/05/affinity-scam-part-7-gerald-durand-and.html
    http://www.startribune.com/business/122204334.html?page=1&c=y

    I was fortunate to be able to use the FBI agent’s affidavit and the contents of the search warrants as well as what was published by Browning in the STrib.

    I am waiting to hear if there is any early word on clawbacks of scam money paid to Durand and his associates through June 2009. My favorite part was how Durand is being alleged by the FBI to have continued to scam people with his investment schemes through to present.

  6. LearnedFoot Avatar
    LearnedFoot

    ” Because it seems a majority of Americans are not homophobes, and DO favor same sex marriage on an equal basis with heterosexual marriage.”

    [CITATION NEEDED]
    . \O/
    . |
    . /\

  7. LearnedFoot Avatar
    LearnedFoot

    Damn. I was really hoping that would work.

  8. MyGovIsNuts Avatar
    MyGovIsNuts

    Let’s just call this: Mitch’s little “Newt” moment. As proven by Doggie Dimwit and her steaming pile of a response.

  9. Bill C Avatar
    Bill C

    [CITATION NEEDED]

    http://marriage.about.com/cs/marriagelicenses/a/samesexcomp.htm

    I don’t know how I can put this more plainly:

    Dog Gone, you are plainly wrong, and you are plainly (and in vain) trying to spin the issue to your preferred viewpoint. You are in the vast minority on this issue and no amount of spin is going to change it.

  10. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    And let’s also ignore the FACT that every state which has put homosexual “marriage” on the ballot has overwhelmingly voted AGAINST it. But Doggie has never let facts interfere with her left wing special interest zealotry. Has she?

  11. Bill C Avatar
    Bill C

    Current tally:

    Allowed:
    California*, Connecticut, D.C., Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont

    Neutral (no law for or against):
    New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island

    Banned (by law, constitutional amendment, or both)
    Every other state.

    *Ban approved by popular vote, but overturned by ONE activist judge.

    If that isn’t a “mandate” of popular opinion, and a refutation of the claim “Because it seems a majority of Americans … DO favor same sex marriage on an equal basis with heterosexual marriage.” , then I don’t know what is. (Blatant and unnecessary ad hominem omitted)

    Whoever commented recently something about that “liberals only deal with assertions”, hit the nail square on the head.

  12. joelr Avatar

    There is at least some evidence that the public is increasingly supportive of same sex marriages. That said, when it’s come to a vote, the record is clear: all statewide ballot initiatives banning it have passed.

    In the CNN poll — see second link — the question doesn’t seem to be loaded: “Do you think marriages between gay and lesbian couples should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages?” Previous polls have “should” at 44%; the latest one has it at 51%.

    The obvious way to reconcile the two facts — the polling vs. the balloting — is that among motivated voters, the opponents are more motivated than the supporters.

    I’m not proposing the fallacy that since a majority of Americans now favor SSM, those who oppose it are wrong. I am arguing, as usual, that support for SSM has grown, in part because in those states where it has been tried (at least almost always as a result of a court case), it has turned out to not seem to make a difference to those folks who are, or want to be, in traditional marriages.

  13. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    Learned Foot, sorry I didn’t see your request earlier, or I would have provided this to you – from one site that tracks multiple polls for convenience:

    http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_poll5.htm

    2009-APR: A Washington Post/ABC poll was the first to find that more American adults supported same-sex marriage (49%) than opposed it (46%).

    Data by state:
    SSM support in each state over the interval 1994 to 2009.
    SSM support in each state, by age cohort, during 2008
    Comparing support for SSMs and civil unions, by state, in 2008

    Individual national polls:
    Comparing SSMs with inter-racial marriage. Gallup & Pew surveys.
    Washington Post/ABC and FOX surveys. << includes the most recent poll
    Angus-Reid & other national polls. Polls of high school seniors.
    Peter D. Hart, Gallup and Newsweek polls.
    Newsweek polls (Cont'd). Conclusions.

    Hope that was sufficient documentation for you.
    2010-AUG: The Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll was the first major poll to show that most American adults support SSM. Asked whether "gays and lesbians should have a constitutional right to marry…" the results were 52% in favor, 46% opposed; 2% unsure or no response, for a margin of 6%.

    2011-MAR-10-13: A Washington Post/ABC News poll reported that 53% of American adults supported same-sex marriage; 44% were opposed. This is a margin of 9 percentage points in favor of SSM!

    2011-APR-03/03: A remarkable survey in New York state — one of the more liberal states in the U.S. — showed that 58% of registered voters supported SSM while only 36% were opposed — a margin of 22 percentage points! Support among Democrats was 65%, Whites: 62%; young voters: 74%; Roman Catholics 59%; and non Judeo-Christians: 78%.

  14. K-Rod Avatar

    Attn DeeGee:
    Whether you are homo or hetro, we all have the same rights.

  15. […] bad idea because I don’t think it’s the sort of stuff that should be in the […]

  16. […] …a bad idea because I don’t think it’s the sort of stuff that should be in the Constitution. […]

  17. […] the one hand, a bad idea:  The libertarian in me bristles at the idea that the government should be telling people what to […]

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