An Issue Bigger than California # 1 of 2

An Issue Bigger Than California! # 1 of 2
cinops be gone Tuesday, October 21, 2008 A.M.
This is a major article that appeared in The Catholic World Report, Oct. 08 by Brian O’Neel, p. 34-6
The fate of Proposition 8, the initiative to protect traditional marriage on the state’s November ballot, has national implications.

In the dissent to the state Supreme Court 4-3 decision in the ruling that overturned Proposition 22, Justice Marvin Baker wrote:
Nothing in our {state} Constitution, express or implicit, compels the majority’s startling conclusion that the age-old understanding of marriage – an understanding recently confirmed by an initiative law – is no longer valid.
“California statutes already recognize same-sex unions and grant them all the substantive legal rights this state can bestow. If there is to be a further sea change in the social and legal understanding of the marriage itself, that evolution should occur by similar democratic means. The majority forecloses this ordinary democratic process, and, in doing so, oversteps its authority.”
As if to express his own dissenting opinion, Pope Benedict XVI noted the day after the court’s ruling:
“The union of love, based on matrimony between a man and woman, which makes up the family, represents the good for all society that cannot be substituted by, confused with, or compared to other types of unions.”

“Our basic strategy is to communicate the value and importance of marriage to society,” says Proposition 8 Campaign Manager Jeff Flint.
“We will also communicate how our measure is a positive affirmation of marriage and not a hateful campaign against homosexuals and the lifestyle they choose to live. They have a right to live that lifestyle. We’re not taking away that right, but similarly they don’t have a right to redefine marriage or have the courts do it for them.” …
“Ultimately, this battle is up to pastors in parishes,” says Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, auxiliary bishop of San Diego, who many credit with getting Proposition 8 on the ballot:
“That’s where most people meet in Church, so preaching about it, teaching about it, helping to distribute election materials, that all needs to happen. In some places, parishes are even becoming voter registration centers. Of course, we have to keep prayer paramount. There will be other, grassroots efforts, and pastors should encourage these. But the job of promoting this will ultimately rest with the pastors in their parishes.”…
Both sides also acknowledge that as California goes, so likely will go the rest of the nation. Fling says, “It would signal the beginning of the end of the fight if we lose here. This is an issue that is bigger than California. People who care about this issue need to understand that this is a national fight.”

Bishop Cordileone agrees. “Society has to understand that marriage and same-sex marriage cannot exist,” he says. “If Proposition 8 loses, those who believe in marriage will be deemed BIGOTS? There are consequences to pay in our society for those who are deemed bigots. Professional licenses aren’t given, you can’t open a school based on bigotry, a lot of privileges are denied. THAT’S HOW THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE WILL BE TREATED IF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS ALLOWED TO STAND. And it’s not a just a matter of letting people live their personal lives. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS WILL BE FORCED TO HIRE PEOPLE IN SAME-SEX MARRIAGES.”
George H. Kubeck