The culture wars are indeed fascinating. It’s very easy for me to wrap myself up in gay affirmative blogs and news sources and see only one side of the story. That side, after all, pertains directly to my life. Why would I want to bother with other view points. That thinking is of course WHY we have culture wars. Both sides are so wrapped up in their own ideology (on any number of issues) that they fail to realize that we all have to live on this planet together whether we agree or disagree with each other. A proposal has finally been drafted in California to try and put this sort of one sided thinking to rest and not surprisingly it’s come from the Libertarian Party of California. As a general rule, it’s quite hard for me to dump myself into the Republican/Democrat pool. I agree with some root Republican ideologies just as I agree with some root Democratic ideologies. Putting that aside, I generally have a problem with government. Trust isn’t the issue, it’s size and scope. I don’t believe that people generally need to be told what to do or how to do it. I don’t really agree with the idea that big government programs will solve social ills, and I don’t generally believe government needs to do many of the things it does from taxes to prohibition of pot and other mild drugs. That said, I do agree that there is a place for many of the things our government does but that’s much to detailed to go into here. That is why I tend to identify more with Libertarian philosophy than with the other two.
Kevin Takenaga, chairman of the Libertarian Party of California, said, “A marriage is a union between two people, a union they may choose to have blessed by their chosen higher authority in a religious ceremony. There is no place for the state in this relationship. By introducing the government into the sacred institution of marriage, which should be a purely personal and religious matter, we have spawned an ongoing cultural war that pits American against American. The Libertarian Party of California is proud to support the Domestic Partnership Initiative so that all Californians can be treated equally before the law.”
What has been proposed (for a ballet measure) is to change the word “Marriage” as it appears in all government documents (licenses etc.) to Domestic Partnerships. Leave marriage to the church and get the state out of it all together. Confer all benefits to all couples under the term Domestic Partnerships. There are some European countries that do this quite successfully, there is no reason this sort of thing could not work here as well. Now, if only the feds would consider this. I hate it that our government is so wrapped up in religion. Again and for the record, I’m not anti-religious or anti-Christian or whatever, I simply believe that religion is a personal matter and one that should not be supported or promoted (over others) by the government. For matters of rights and responsibilities, it should not matter one bit to the state whether any of us holds a belief in the supernatural.
So enough for tonight. Found this the other day on one of the blogs I frequent. Thought you might like it.
