faith, human rights, and the separation of church and state

i'm glad that i'm no longer a resident of california and don't have to make this difficult moral choice. what is more important the power and integrity of the most revered document in our nation, the constitution; or the religious sanctity of a contract between two individuals?

here is what i believe...

the constitution states that "all...are created equal." that to me means that there is nothing that makes someone undeserving of every legal privilege extended by the government institutions in this nation.

separation of church and state was designated by the founders for a very specific reason. it prevents the blurring of lines between self evident truths and religious beliefs. i believe that this nation has lost the original purpose of that credo and is suffering the consequences of it's ignorant dismissal of sage words.

i believe that the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is the true and living church on the earth. the leaders of that church are inspired by god.

but in reality we all have to make this difficult moral choice every day of our life. We all are, or should be conscious of every individual's right to the pursuit of happiness and the religious freedom that this nation prides itself. currently california and our entire nation are faced with our hypocrisy and conflict that lie in all that we have permitted thus far. our nation relies upon the religious institutions to carry out a portion of its responsibilities and in turn the nation turns its eye to the corruption and injustice that proceed the good and faithful deeds of the righteous.

marriage is an institution ordained by god and made sacred by him when adam and his helpmate found that they were naked in the garden. it is solemnized in the houses of worship of nearly every religion.

married individuals are granted rights and privileges by the governments of most nations. religious institutions are granted rights and privileges by the governments of most nations.
the two should not be linked in the manner that they are.

there is something wrong with the fact that the united states government performs less than 15% of the marriages in nation. There is something wrong with the fact that something hailed to be so sacred and ordained of god is allowed to be performed and legally recognized by anyone from a felon, to a sex offender, to a pot smoker, all of whom received their “licenses” from a three hour online course granting them religious authority and in turn the power to bind marriages both legally and spiritually. There is something wrong with the fact that one can be married in a dive through. There is something wrong with the fact the united states government saves untold amounts of money and infrastructure by allowing religious institutions to uphold the mandate to dole out marriage.

so for me the answer to the prop 8 question isn’t whether or not to preserve the sanctity of marriage and prevent the degradation of the family. it seems that our precious government has already degraded the sanctity of marriage. the question isn’t whether or not two men or two women deserve to be married. the question for me is how do we define marriage? is marriage religious or is it civil?

it has been suggested that marriage, as it is currently known be privatized. i believe that marriage needs to be preserved for each individual as it is sacred to them.

in my world travels i have seen the best and worst of government policies. The one that I feel is most applicable in these confusing days is the practice of nearly every other nation in the world. marriage, as a civil institution is solely and strictly performed by the magistrates and representatives of local government. if there are practices within one’s faith that solemnize marriage they are performed independently of the civil ceremony.

if any union is to be recognized by the local, state, or federal authority it is to be made legal by one of those entities. We need to adhere to the exhortations of our fore fathers and remove the influence of religion from government and in turn the influence of government from of faith. whether or not gay marriage is permitted under the law this privatization of marriage, the separation of church and state must be made complete.

i support the efforts of all who are fighting for their personal beliefs, i believe they are all doing what they feel is their moral obligation. i believe that each party is striving to find reason in something that remains so unclear. but we are forgetting the core issues at hand. but as a whole we are forgetting that our nation is ill and lacking direction. we are forgetting the admonitions of wise men that perhaps saw the potential for such a disastrous clash of faith and rights.