Did I miss something? This sounds like standard separation of church and state to me.
Link to the full article from Deseret News.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Uh, and this is a problem because...?
Elder Lance B. Wickman, an attorney for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, says of the court case challenging Proposition 8, "Perry [the plaintiff] seeks a court declaration that, as a matter of law, religious views may not be used to justify the denial of a social civil right. Stated differently, they essentially claim that the voters, from whom all authority in a democracy flows, may not consider religious views and values when deciding these alleged social and cultural civil rights."
Did I miss something? This sounds like standard separation of church and state to me.
Link to the full article from Deseret News.
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Did I miss something? This sounds like standard separation of church and state to me.
Link to the full article from Deseret News.
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I'm not sure that it is right ethically (much less, feasible) to prevent people from considering religious dogmas when voting. But, I think separation of church and state, freedom FROM religion and those certain inalienable (social and civil) rights, like the pursuit of happiness, aren't left to be decided by voters as they are necessarily guaranteed and protected by the Constitution. Those Constitutional guarantees were established so that the bigoted voters can't repress and discriminate against those in the minority, even on the basis of their silly mythologies.
ReplyDeleteActually, I learned recently in a discussion on the Americans United for Separation of Church and State blog that:
ReplyDeleteSeparation of Church and State only applies to the government. The government cannot exhibit favoritism, people can. Only when people engage in activities that discriminate or violate civil rights can they be prosecuted. Otherwise, we are free to do what we like.
I came here to say pretty much what Amy said.
ReplyDeletePeople have a right to vote whatever way for whatever reason. However, this isn't one of those things that should even be voted on. It should just be so.
America is technically not a democracy. One of the main functions of our government is to protect the rights of the minority from the rule of the majority—to ensure equal rights and opportunity for all citizens. The very private affair of who someone is allowed to marry is something that should never have been put up for a vote in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI thought he was meaning that a vote should be based on the evidence given only and not someone's biased beliefs.
ReplyDeleteYes. You could easily use the exact same logic as the L.D.S. church to justify the (re)banning of interracial marriage. I am also pretty sure there are a few, if not several religions or religious sects that happily marry gay couples. So doesn't Prop. 8 also trample on their religious freedoms?
ReplyDeleteAlthough many Mormons would deny it, and despite the 11th article of faith, what the L.D.S. church apparently wants is a democratic government that lets them legislate their religious views, regardless of who loose civil rights in the process. If they are not given this privilege, then their religious "rights" have been taken away.
The separation of church and state is to keep religious dogma out of government and the government out of religions. Voters have the right to vote any way they want for whatever reasons they want. It's known as freedom. HOWEVER, as others have said, this particular issue should never have been put up for vote. It should be covered in the constitution, and the way I interpret it, it actually is. Did people vote whether or not to free black people as slaves? No. It was simply mandated and that's how it should be regarding gay rights and pretty much anything else that makes a person happy and doesn't harm others.
ReplyDelete-Glen
Yes. You could easily use the exact same logic as the L.D.S. church to justify the (re)banning of interracial marriage. I am also pretty sure there are a few, if not several religions or religious sects that happily marry gay couples. So doesn't Prop. 8 also trample on their religious freedoms?
ReplyDeleteAlthough many Mormons would deny it, and despite the 11th article of faith, what the L.D.S. church apparently wants is a democratic government that lets them legislate their religious views, regardless of who loose civil rights in the process. If they are not given this privilege, then their religious "rights" have been taken away.