My Thoughts On Proposition 8

Proposition 8, the law banning homosexual marriage in California that was voted into law by the people, was overturned today by a court ruling as unconstitutional. The fact that a person's right to choose whom they love or marry is being debated as LAW is still confounding to me. At first, my issue with this was not homosexual marriage being made legal, but that a judge was overturning the desires of the people. I thought that was scary. But then, after talking with my wife, I realized how wrong I was.

The United States of America, contrary to popular belief, is a republic; a rule by law. Most people think it is a democracy; a rule by the people. In fact, we are a republic by a democratic process. To prove this I will state two words: Judiciary Branch.

The courts interpret our laws and, hopefully, bring clarity to their meanings. The courts are the only thing that keeps our beloved democratic process from becoming an angry mob. The people may want one thing, but if the Constitution says another, we need to go with the Constitution. The United States is, after all, a republic.

What's more, the judge, that sits on the bench, is there to, in essence, protect us from ourselves. The judge was either voted into office (democracy), or he was appointed by a governor or the president (democracy by proxy). We then have to trust that the judge on the bench is honoring the true will of the people by upholding the Constitution of the United States.

With that said, I trust that the overturn of Proposition 8 in California, was indeed, performed by a judge that put all his/her bias aside and weighed the evidence against the letter, and the spirit, of the law (republic).

I am a conservative (I'm a LIBERTARIAN, not a Republican) voter. I am also a follower and believer of Jesus the Messiah. I believe in freedom; the free will of the individual to make his or her own choices, so long as they fit within the confines of these words:

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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.