Monday, November 10, 2008

My continued stance on (no) prop 8

Continuation of the (no) prop 8 stance of which I hold - this is my response to a dear friend:

Perhaps if we understood why the individuals chose this life in the first place...perhaps everyone would be more understanding of their decisions and way of life. There are many of those whom are same sex attracted who were molested by those with authority ...so their understanding of what is right has been damaged...and forever will be. So does that make it right...no....but does it make it right for anyone else not involved to assume that one made their decision to love one of the same sex purely by their own will. Or perhaps is it all they understand due to that one moment as a child when they simply had no choice in the issue?!? Again...who am I to be the judge of Israel for anyone...it is not my choice...nor should it be yours. All that we can do as true Christians...is to love everyone...regardless of who they are or what they stand for. And so I choose to support those who may not understand why they have been given the choice to love one of the same sex. I love unconditionally.

ps: I am not saying that all or the majority of those whom are gay were molested...I do not walk the path of each individual...however, I do know many of my own friends and performer friends...who were molested by those with some sort of authority over them. This changing forever the way that they personally view sex and view sexual behavior.

My argument: People...regardless of where they come from and their belief system...have no right to take away anyone elses freedom to love...that and only that moral decision can be God alone. It is our place to love that person...and rather than finding the differences between us...rather find what brings us closer together.


8 comments:

Shelle-BlokThoughts said...

I am not choosing to take away their right to love...I agree that they should love whomever they choose regardless of the life they grew up with or lived.

I am choosing to vote YES to the sacredness of marriage between a Man and a Woman. I BELIEVE that...so how is it NOT my right to vote FOR it?

IT was up for a vote...the MAJORITY spoke...

It's sad that people have to point fingers and tell us what WE can believe and what WE should except...we don't have to...that is my right as an American to believe in what I believe in...and that goes for the right of those that voted NO...

Unfortunately for them...there are MORE that voted YES. Thems the breaks!

Because of MY beliefs...I want marriage to stay between a Man and a Woman.

But don't proceed to tell ME that I am taking your RIGHT away to LOVE ANYBODY...love whomever you choose.

I wonder if PROP 8 would've gone the other way...if we would be rioting around Gay Bars and hangouts?

I guess we will see, cause only time can tell, if it will help at all?

Janae said...

My sister lives in Cali, Her biggest thing was that if it was vetoed, 1- the church would be forced to perform the marriages in the church and if they did not they would be penalized by losing there tax excempt status.
2- the children would be taught in school about same sex marriages and be taught that it is as natural as marriage between man and woman. And they could not opt out of it being taught to there children. There were alot more things that were negative about it,but I cannot remember them.
I am fine with people choosing to be gay. I had an Uncle who died of aids that was gay. He is still to this day my favorite.
I am fine with people choosing how they live but when it takes away from the sacredness of the family I do have a problem. I am also fine with you voting against it that is the wonderful thing about free agency. I love my kids and want to protect them from whatever I can. Rance you are my hero. I am glad you are who you are.Hope this made sense. I love ya Janae

nyn said...

Rance first I would like to say. Well said. I can completely hear where you are coming from and I agree with you. If I had lived in California I also would have voted No on 8. This is the privelage of living in a free country. You can support and choose what you feel and believe is truly best. I am not sure that I believe all the "hype" about what would happen if gay-marriage were approved. I think people should live the life they choose and if they choose to be married then I love them and support that decision. I know sometimes it is hard to stand alone in your beliefs and convictions when it feels like those you love dearest don't understand. But, what matters most is that you stand by your beliefs and know that those who don't see things the same love you wholeheartedly. I am proud of you for taking the time to share your thoughts and feelings on this matter. Keep up the good work Rance. And good luck on the audition. I can't wait to hear what happens for Jersey Boys :)!!!

Steven said...

Hey... well put, it's just interesting the fear that was instilled in so many people about the teachings in schools and churches being forced. That happened in Sweeden. Being this is America, I'm guessing that one cannot force the church to do anything they don't want to do.

What's interesting is that you don't need a church to get married. One doesn't need ANYTHING at all involving anything religious to get married. I can go to the justice of the peace and be married in the government's eye. SO, forgive me for becoming irate when religious hypocrites throw the sacredness of man and woman. Our government recognizes a separation of church and state, and the people should follow suit.

And to the majority that voted, let's just say that a large portion of that majority to vote yes, are all white people over the age of 65. In fact, it was about a 75% of that majority that fell in that category. So, let's just wait for them to all die off and we'll have our rights. Because, it's not about the love, it's about the rights.

Stodds Crew said...
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Stodds Crew said...
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Unknown said...

1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control.

2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people can’t legally get married because the world needs more children.

3. Obviously, gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage is allowed, since Britney Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.

5. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are property, blacks can’t marry whites, and divorce is illegal.

6. Gay marriage should be decided by people, not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities.

7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

10. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why single parents are forbidden to raise children.

11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven’t adapted to things like cars or longer life-spans.

12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a “separate but equal” institution is always constitutional. Separate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as separate marriages for gays and lesbians will.


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"Of course gays should be allowed to marry. Let them be miserable like the rest of us." - Groucho Marx

Stacie Lang said...

Rance you probably do not remember me I am Janaes older sister Stacie. I am pleased that you have taken the time to make an informed decision about prop 8 and I to have an opinion that I would like to share with you. I think that both parties can have what they want, same sex couples already have rights to legally commit to each other through civil unions, this gives them rights at least at a state level (the federal government does not yet acknowledge civil unions or in Mass case marriages of same sex couples regardless of state law)that are almost equal to marriage I believe that if they would choose to accept a civil union as the marriage equivilant and then fight for individual rights to make it more equal to the rights of marriage that they would recieve much less opposition. People are not affraid of the Gay and Lesbian lifestyle as much as they want to protect marriage and the family. People are adamant about that point and from what I can see it is the rights that most same sex couples want. The offical stand of the church is the same. They support the rights of same sex couples as long as they do not affect the family.
I am pleased that you have read and studied and have a testimony of the family proclamation and I do not know what calamaties have been foretold but I do know that if the Savior were to come today I would be grateful for my testimony and that I would be able to say that I did stand with his Prophet on this particular issue. I respect your choice and your stand and I just wanted to share mine

And just a little sidenote for Steven. In the blogs and comments from newspaper articles about the protests. People have said that although they do not need a church to get married they would seek out and sue churches who would not do this just to get even. So although it is not needed there are a lot of people who will do it because they can.