Update: Fortunately, on May 8, 2012, the NC Marriage Protection Amendment passed, with a landslide 61% to 39% majority.
Subsequent events elsewhere have proven the wisdom of North Carolina's voters. For example, the New Mexico Supreme Court basically ruled that Christians in New Mexico may believe whatever thay want, as long as they don't let their beliefs affect what they do.
Update #2: Unfortunately, on October 10, 2014, an Obama-appointed federal District Judge, Max O. Cogburn Jr., overturned the will of the people of North Carolina, and 238 years of established law, and State Attorney General Roy Cooper refused to appeal the ruling, thereby forcing North Carolina Counties to recognize and solemnize same-sex marriages.
Notes on the NC Marriage Protection Constitutional Amendment
The proposed Marriage Protection Amendment, as it appears on the ballot:
The proposed Amendment, full text (new section):
Sec. 6. Marriage.
Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that
shall be valid or recognized in this State. This section does not prohibit a
private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor
does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private
parties pursuant to such contracts.
Truth
NC State Rep. Paul Stam definitively answers the main question:
What Will the Marriage Amendment Do? (or here)
Even honest analysts who are unenthusiastic about the Amendment confirm that opponents are "crying wolf" with their wild claims that it will interfere with domestic violence laws, insurance coverage, etc. (Also, a group of Campbell University law professors, who take no position on the Amendment, have produced a detailed legal analysis of its effects, confirming that it will not do the things opponents claim.)
VoteForMarriageNC.com has a good list of Myths and Facts about the Amendment.
Q: But whose interpretation should you believe about the meaning of this Amendment? That of its
supporters, or its opponents? More importantly, which interpretation will the courts accept?
A: That of its supporters. It is a firmly established principle of legal interpretation that a Constitution or law should be interpreted “according to the safe and honest meaning [as understood] at the time of its adoption, -- a meaning to be found in the explanations of those who advocated, not those who opposed it...” Thomas Jefferson, 3/27/1801
Statements by opponents of a bill “cannot be relied upon as indicative of legislative intent.” National Labor Relations Board v. Thompson Products, 141 F.2d 794, 798 (9th Cir. 1944).
“If
resort to legislative history is had, the statements of those who supported the
legislation and secured its passage will be accepted in determining its meaning.”
Union Starch & Refining Co. v. National Labor Relations Board, 186 F.2d 1008, 1012 (7th Cir. 1951).
See also Duplex Co. v. Deering, 254 U.S. 443, 474475 (1921).
Consequences
In this Letter to the N&O (which they did not print), a former resident
of Massachusetts recalls what happened there when activist courts legalized same-sex
marriage:
http://www.burtonsys.com/marriage/massachusetts.html
Ed & Carol Gehringer have adopted three children. In this email excerpt, Ed describes how legalization of same-sex marriage has impacted adoption and curtailed religious freedom in Massachusetts.
The NC Family Policy Council's church bulletin insert (or here) has excellent information about the consequences to parental rights and religious freedom of legalizing gay marriage.
I think the greatest impact of this issue will be on children. If the Marriage Amendment is defeated,
it will greatly increase the risk that NC will legalize same-sex marriage (or its equivalent under another name),
and perhaps polygamy. That would be harmful to children, because married couples get priority for adopting children.
Traditional families are best suited for raising children, but if non-traditional domestic relationships are
recognized as legal marriages in NC, then those “families” will get the same priority for adopting
children as traditional families. That will be bad for children, and it will increase the likelinood of tragedies
like the horrific Frank Lombard / Kenneth
Shipp case [2]
in Durham.
Commentary
NC Gov. Bev Perdue opposes the Marriage Protection Amendment.
Pastor David Horner of Providence Baptist Church has written a very thoughtful essay on the Marriage Protection Amendment:
Thoughts on the Proposed NC Marriage Amendment
NC's Catholic Bishops are strongly supporting the NC Marriage Protection Amendment.
Pastor J. D. Greear of Summit Church has created a thoughtful short video about the Marriage Protection Amendment.
“Defense of Marriage Democracy” is a letter that I wrote to a NC Senator in Sept., 2011:
http://www.burtonsys.com/defense_of_democracy_ltr.html
Here are some very informative YouTube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Vote4MarriageNC
The marriage protection amendment is just one skirmish in the greater culture war, a/k/a the war on decency. Here's another: UNC-CH paid $18,500 to have a vicious cyber-bully named Dan Savage speak on campus. Savage is a gay sex columnist, gay marriage advocate, and creator of the obscene santorum.com web site and a pornographic fake Internet definition of “Santorum” so obscene that general-circulation newspapers can't print it.
Meanwhile, the Harvard chapter of Law Students for Reproductive Justice (Sandra Fluke's organization) hosted a "Slut Pride" seminar.
If you care about the future of America, if you care whether she is blessed by Almighty God, then you should care about such things:
“I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice,[Mat 10:29] is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.’[Ps 127:1] I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel...
I therefore beg leave to move -- that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business...”
-Benjamin Franklin, speaking to the Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787
Marriage Matters
by Randall Floyd, Education Pastor, Grey Stone Baptist Church, Durham
Issue #1: 3.23.2012 (or as pdf)
Issue #2: 3.31.2012 (or as pdf)
Issue #3: 4.06.2012 (or as pdf)
Issue #4: 4.13.2012 (or as pdf)
Issue #5: 4.20.2012 (or as pdf)
Information pages:
Marriage Matters info: www.edugreystone.com/index.php?pageID=10705_2
Marriage Matters email archives: www.edugreystone.com/index.php?pageID=5195_3
Defense of Marriage resources: www.edugreystone.com/index.php?pageID=5196_3
Articles:
Good News for April 2012: Marriage Matters, by Pastor Randall Floyd
Why Not Same Sex Marriage, by Dan Heimback, Professor of Christian Ethics, SEBTS
Myths & Facts: The North Carolina Marriage Protection Amendment
References:
NC General Assembly Session Law 2011-409 (SB-514, Defense of Marriage) & bill history
Christian Action League: www.christianactionleague.org
NC Baptist Christian Life & Public Affairs (CLPA): blog.ncbaptist.org/clpa
Vote for Marriage NC: www.voteFORmarriagenc.com (Twitter hashtag #4MarriageNC)
NC Family Policy Council: www.ncfamily.org
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission: www.erlc.com
Family Research Council: www.frc.org
Q: Where can I get a yard sign?
A: Sorry, I don't have a list of sources, but in north Raleigh, the In His Name bookstore has them (240 Newton Rd., Suite 104, Raleigh, NC 27615. 919-847-2220).
Note: you might want to put your sign where you can see it easily from your window, and
keep a camera handy, because the opposition is stealing many of our signs, and defacing others.
Dave Burton
Cary, NC
M: 919-244-3316
http://www.burtonsys.com/email/
April 10, 2012
last updated: Nov. 26, 2019
My "Dave's Picks" conservative voter guide for the 5/8/2012 election in Wake Co., NC is:
http://www.burtonsys.com/davespicks.html
Permalink: http://tinyurl.com/ncmarriage