Saturday, June 10, 2006

Federal Marriage Amendment Fails to Pass in Senate




Though I hoped and prayed that the Federal Marriage Amendment would pass, deep within my heart I thought it would be rejected by the Senate. It has been a few days since the event; nonetheless, here are Gary Bauer's thoughts on the issue:


From: Gary L. Bauer, Chairman
Campaign for Working Families

Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2006



Senate Liberals Divorced From Reality

Members of the United States Senate, once again, demonstrated just how
divorced from reality they have become. Two weeks ago, it was illegal
immigration. Today, it was the definition of marriage. This morning, the
Senate failed to end a liberal filibuster of the proposed constitutional
amendment to preserve the definition of marriage in America as the union of
one man and one woman. Under Senate rules, 60 votes are required to shut
down filibusters, but the vote was 49-to-48, effectively killing the
amendment. (To see how your senators voted, go to http://www.cwfpac.com)

The respective positions of the political parties could not be more clear:
85% of Senate Republicans voted for the marriage protection amendment,
while 91% of Senate Democrats voted against the marriage protection
amendment – against defining marriage in America as the union of one man
and one woman.

When I wrote in yesterday’s report that the Democrat Party was beholden to
the militant homosexual movement, that was not hyperbole on my part. Just
consider this fact: 12 Democrat senators who voted against the marriage
protection amendment “represent” states where the people have passed their
own marriage protection amendments. In my view, this “dirty dozen” grossly
failed their constituents and Campaign for Working Families will do
everything we can to hold them accountable!

Leading the pack was Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid, whose home state of
Nevada had to approve its marriage protection amendment in two consecutive
elections. So, the citizens of Nevada voted twice to define marriage as
the union of one man and one woman, yet Harry Reid is leading the charge
against traditional marriage in the United States Senate. Whom is Harry
Reid representing – the people of his state or the homosexual movement?
The answer is obvious.

While the partisan lines on marriage were hardening in the Senate, the
American people yesterday were moving in a completely different direction.
In Pennsylvania, 69% of the State House of Representatives approved a
marriage protection amendment to the Pennsylvania constitution. In Alabama
voters went to the polls to nominate candidates in several important
primary elections, but they were also asked whether or not they wanted to
amend their state’s constitution to define marriage as the union of one and
one woman.

The most high profile primary yesterday pitted incumbent Republican
Governor Bob Riley against former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. More
than 450,000 people voted in the Republican gubernatorial primary, which
Governor Riley won with just under 304,000 votes. The marriage amendment
was approved with more than 635,000 votes, making Alabama the 20th state in
the union to pass a marriage protection amendment.

But to be clear: More people voted for the marriage amendment than voted
in the Republican primary for governor. Assuming every single Republican
voted for the amendment, that still means a whole lot of Democrats also
voted to protect traditional marriage. This scenario has been repeated
over and over again, yet Washington still views this issue through myopic
partisan lenses. The only explanation for the stalemate in the Senate is
that one political party has been hijacked by cultural extremists.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Intelligent conservatives everywhere understand that to define marriage in the federal space is just one more power grab by a big government which only wants to get bigger, whichever party is in power. This is a STATE issue. That is why amendments are passing in the states but won't pass on the federal level. Not because of "hijacking".

It's a good thing there are enough intelligent conservatives in the country to offset the ones who can't see that installing a socially conservative nanny state is no better than installing a liberal one.

Also, get to know some of your friendly neighborhood gay couples. They're not aliens, and they're not militant, and they're not crazy or perverted or sick. They're regular folks living regular lives. You are being lied to.

Scottius Maximus said...

Hey, Lucy- that gay dude showed you!

Since you're having so much trouble with differentiating the truth (ha!), now see if you can tell if you are being lied to in the following statement:

"I am lying."

So am I? Or am I?

Anonymous said...

Whoa, nice comeback! Not only does it not address any of my points, it actually contains zero content! And it's not even funny, because everyone's already heard the one about the guy who says "This statement is a lie."

I didn't realize that "Anonymous" was a male name. I'm not a "dude", dude.

Lutheran Lucy said...

Anonymous, I am writing a special post and will address your points. I hope to be done with it in a day or two. Thank you for your comments.

M said...

I do not see how the marrige of two people of the same sex affects you in any way or in any way vilates the sanctity of marrige. These couples dont whish to get married in your local church, what they want is the legal status so they can have rights and benifits of the legal state of marrige which gives them baisic decision making power for there spouses and gets them essential rights (like being able to make medical decisions should their spouse be hospitalized). My question is why good kind people object to two loving soulss united in the state of matrimony and recieving the benifts thereof. My major question is: How in the heck does it affect you if gays marry? how does this hurt you? I support your right to object to homosexuality, and im not asking you to support it, im not even asking you to aknowledge it, im just asking you to ignore it since it is not your business.

regards,

Mr.X

Lutheran Lucy said...

Mr. X, thank you for your comment. I am still working on my post and will address your points too. Blessings!

Scottius Maximus said...

Sniff. Everybody's gotta be a critic!

Anyway, keep up the good work, Lucy. Even if you're not one of the good, intelligent ones.

Lutheran Lucy said...

Thanks honey!! :) Though one likes to be liked and accepted, the MOST important thing is to be a witness to the TRUTH, right?

Lutheran Lucy said...

Anonymous and Mr. X,

Let me start off by addressing some of the points made:

1- Anonymous, I actually have met and know some people who are gay. In fact, on two separate occasions this past week I talked with two different homosexuals. I like both of these people. In addition, I have some in my family, worked around some, and my husband has a childhood friend who is gay as well. I pray for them, asking God to help them turn away from homosexuality.

2-I have personally seen and experienced some very polite behavior by some homosexuals. For the most part though, I have seen very militant and rude behavior by homosexuals in my home town when our city voted for a law to protect homosexuals from being discriminated against, etc. I realize that they need to work and need a place to live. But, I do want to be able to deny a person a job or place to live if I do not think that person is the right person for the job or the right renter for example whether that person is gay or not. Also a church or a school for example should be able to say that they will not hire a homosexual because it is against God's Word.

Anyway, to make my point, my 74 year old mother (at the time) who was not in good health went with me to this meeting. The whole facility was wall to wall with people. I asked if I could find a seat for my mother, and many people on the side of the homosexuals were very rude and disrespectful when I very politely said that we needed to get her a seat! In our own state, people and organizations who have taken stands against homosexuality have been treated in a very hateful and mean manner. Now to be perfectly fair, I have seen people who claim to be Christians be militant and rude as well. That is just as inexcusable for Christians as it is for homosexuals.

3-I don't like government being involved in all the issues and think that the government should have never been involved with abortion and other such moral issues. However, to protect the victims of the abortion laws and now the victims of the homosexual rights laws passed in our country, laws were needed and are still needed to be passed. Anonymous says that this is a state issue. Yes, several of the states have passed laws that do define marriage as to be between a man and a woman and several are under the DOMA Law as well. HOWEVER, to make this a state issue will not solve the problem with the FEDERAL activist judges who are trying to make homosexual marriages legal in America. They can undo ALL the laws that were voted on to protect marriage. Homosexuality would then be legal in all fifty states. Marriage wasn't intended to be between two men or two women. Why stop there though? Marriage could be defined as being between three or four people and so on. And then, the subject of child rearing, including adoption, is a concern as well. Children need to be raised by a mom and a dad, not two dads or two moms. It isn't how God intended it to be. When Rush was talking about homosexual marriages, a woman called in to say that she wanted to marry her dog! So, to legalize homosexual marriages is to leave the door wide open for all other kinds of situations for marriage, other than what God intended for it to be on this earth.

4-Mr. X, you say that this is not the business of other people as to who marries whom, etc. I agree to an extent. When it becomes my business and everybody else's business is when homosexuals try to force their agenda by teaching it to kids in the schools as if homosexuality is a true option to heterosexuality or if they are forcing their agenda so that employers or landlords have to hire them or rent to them. You also mentioned that homosexuals should have the right to receive benefits of their partners. I disagree because that means that somehow and somewhere down the line, my family and I along with all other families against homosexuality will have to pay for these benefits. It will indirectly hit our pocketbooks. I realize it is indirectly affecting us now to an extent when we even buy from stores, organizations, etc. who may have some affiliation with homosexuals. However, as long as I can work towards changing a situation along with help from other people on the same side even if that means boycotting some products, etc. from these stores, etc., I will do so. I will do what I can do with God's help because this is, most of all, God's business and as Christians, we are to state the Truth!

5-Truth: that leads me to my final point. Anonymous, homosexuality is a lie. People are not born homosexuals; they learn to be or desire to be homosexuals and act upon it as if this is an innate nature within them. God does not approve of homosexuality, and it is therefore a sin against Him. I personally know someone who has walked away from homosexuality as well as another person (a former pastor) who walked away from transvestitism after confessing their sins and leaning upon the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to heal and restore them to be the people God has intended them to be. In fact, the former pastor and his wife now have a ministry for counseling to people with various sexual sins. I hope to get his permission to post his website for anyone needing help with these issues. Focus on the Family has a program as well for helping homosexuals turn away from their destructive lifestyle. I believe it is called Love Won Out.

The problem in our culture is that many do not want to accept God's Word from cover to cover as the Absolute Truth for living. People who want to believe in homosexuality are the ones being lied to. That can cross over to anyone though who wants to believe that their sin is okay. And I will make one thing perfectly clear that I am as MUCH a sinner as any homosexual. None of us are without sin - we all need Christ as our Savior. If you are caught up in homosexuality or any sin that has entangled you, I encourage you to repent of your sins before Christ and ask Him to help you to change your ways. Step by step He can help you. It won't be easy, but nonetheless, He can help you. I encourage you to read His Word and seek good sound Christian counseling and also to associate with other people who will be encouraging you to change. When Christ comes back to destroy the world and take us Christians to go to live with Him forever in peace, don't you want to receive that eternal life of peace as well? You do not want to burn in hell forever, do you? FOREVER - that is very hard to perceive in our finite minds, but there are NO SECOND CHANCES ONCE Christ returns. As it says in Matthew 24: 42, "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into."

I will finish this post with scripture from Romans 1:18-32 which couldn't be clearer about homosexuality. I hope and pray that this will convict all who are for homosexuality. If I didn't care about these people, I wouldn't have spent three hours over the past few days to write these comments.

8The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

New International Version
International Bible Society
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984