{"id":19748,"date":"2011-05-03T11:49:45","date_gmt":"2011-05-03T17:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=19748"},"modified":"2011-05-03T11:49:45","modified_gmt":"2011-05-03T17:49:45","slug":"the-good-republican-as-of-may-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=19748","title":{"rendered":"The Good Republican (As Of May 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Representative John Kriesel is getting plaudits from the crowd that normally wouldn’t spit on a Republican if he were on fire, because\u00a0he opposes the GOP’s Marriage Amendment proposal<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/a>John Kriesel, R-Cottage Grove, is the first Republican in the Minnesota Legislature to announce his opposition to a proposed amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage, according to the Star Tribune. The bill has cleared a committee each in the Minnesota House and Senate, and Kriesel said he\u2019s working hard to convince his Republican colleagues that the amendment is a bad idea.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI look at it as: We are all equal,\u201d Kriesel told the Star Tribune. \u201cIt is not right. I can\u2019t do it. I\u2019m very upset about this vote. I don\u2019t like it. I think it sends the wrong message. You live once in your life and I\u2019ve learned that the hard way. You never know when it is going to be your time. People fight to find happiness\u2026.You find someone you love and now other people are saying because I don\u2019t consider that normal, you can\u2019t do it?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two things to set straight first:<\/p>\n

One: I have nothing but respect for Rep. Kriesel. \u00a0He’s earned it, over and over. \u00a0The fact that he got elected to the House was one of the most satisfying victories of a very satisfying election season last year.<\/p>\n

Second: As a libertarian<\/em>-conservative, I’m perfectly fine with letting people live their lives their own way; I support legalizing many drugs, and support civil unions as a civil contract.<\/em><\/p>\n

But I – along with a sharp majority of Minnesotans – believe Marriage is a fundamentally religious institution, above and beyond <\/em>its status as a civil contract. \u00a0Every one of the world’s religions, barring the odd splinter (shaddap about Episcopals), agrees.<\/p>\n

And when we say “marriage is, to us, a religious institution”, the best argument the gay marriage proponents have come up with so far is “no it’s not”.<\/p>\n

Which is where I have to push back. \u00a0“Marriage” is really two different things, depending on who you ask;<\/p>\n