Proposition 8

Lately there has been lots of talk about Prop 8 in California. This issue is a very controversial issue. Many people are defending rights and feel strongly in favor or against Prop 8. It is rather interesting that if you ask anyone- for or against- that feels strongly about this issue they probably do because they are trying to defend "rights". The problem is that in the name of rights many people are trying to redefine truth. What is truth? Is marriage between a man and a woman the only truth? Who defines truth? Who has the right to define truth? Who has the right to define marriage? I think that we each have the right to seek truth and to find it for our selves. This life is a pursuit of truth. Nobody has the right to redefine truth for everyone. People that think gay marriages are correct have the right to think this way and so do people that think that it is incorrect. The problem is that we are all fighting for "rights" and in so doing we are overstepping each other's right to finding truth. There is only one truth. If 1+1=2 it cannot =3. So what is the truth? and How can we settle this issue?

It took me a while to understand how proposition 8 affected me and why I feel passionately about it. At first, it was simply a matter of politics, but now, after more careful consideration it has become a more personal matter. As I have considered the issue I have thought much about truth and rights. I believe that there is only one truth. God is truth. God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman. He also intended life to be an experience where we come to know God and come closer to knowing truth as individuals and in our own experiences. When we try to redefine truth in the name of rights, we are taking away the rights of humanity to come to know that truth that was redefined. People who are fighting for "rights" of gay marriages are taking away the right for the rest of humanity to come to know truth, for children to grow up knowing that truth that was in existence since before the world came to be, the truth God gives us and that he meant for us to come to know- marriage is between a man and a woman.



I feel very passionately about this because I come from a family in which my mother and father did exceptional jobs with five children (of which I am the eldest). They loved us and each cared for us in the ways God meant them to care for us. Fathers have qualities that allow them to provide and nurture children in a way that mothers cannot. Mothers have qualities that nurture in ways that fathers cannot. Each gender has been endowed with qualities for the job of being a mother or a father. God created our bodies this way and our personalities or inner qualities. If this was not true then God wouldn't have created us the way he did. The family is such a critical unit in our society. It is because of the love that me and my siblings received from my mom and dad that we were all able to come to know the truth for ourselves, to receive peace and joy in our lives, to get an education and to become the people we now are. The happiest moments of my life come from being with my family, serving my family and learning with my family. I believe in the right for all children that come into this world to have that support and stability. I also believe in the right of people to choose for themselves in what they believe to be true. The reason I am blogging about this on my Africa blog is because the mission of the Family Preservation Program which I evaluated this summer in Mozambique is to strengthen families. When the family is strong, the individual is strong, the community is strong, the city is strong, the country is strong.

Aside from all the reasons that have been offered by many on why to vote yes on prop 8, the best reason of all to vote yes is because of your belief in the right to protect truth.

Let us not loose sight of what we really are fighting for. Instead of fighting for rights, lets remember what our founding fathers fought for- they fought for freedom. Freedom to choose, freedom to believe, freedom to seek truth.

For more information visit the following sites: ProtectMarriage.com and PreservingMarriage.com . There is a group on Facebook named "Invite People to Protect California Marriage" (you can search for it by clicking groups and performing a search and adding it to your facebook groups)