Marriage, Names, and Opinions

Don't you like how I wrapped three letters into one post?

 I live in North Carolina. I think we're part of the Bible belt because you can't walk 50 yards without seeing a church and most everyone claims to be a Christian, although a good half or majority sure doesn't act like it. I was raised in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church. Not sure what that means? Think being scared into religion. I once heard a speaker from the pulpit say that women were the downfall of the world. In all fairness, he wasn't the preacher, but he wasn't chastised or corrected either. I respect that people have the right to their opinions and beliefs, but I don't have to be subjected to the ones I vehemently oppose.

That brings me to this post, which is politically charged like the 4^th of July. Up for vote on May 8^th in my state, which I refuse to call fair at this moment, is Amendment One. Poorly informed individuals also call it the Marriage Amendment. The biggest thing I think people don't realize or acknowledge is that NC already has a law on the books banning gay marriage. Go to this link to read for yourself how Amendment One can harm ALL families in North Carolina.

 
Some majorly important points that will affect someone you know:

1. Amendment One would interfere with protections for unmarried couples to visit one another in the hospital and to make emergency medical and financial decisions if one partner is incapacitated. 
2. A child of an unmarried parent could lose their health care and prescription drug coverage, putting the child's health at risk. 
3.  Domestic violence protections could only apply to married couples.
4.  A single or widowed senior couple could be forced to marry to keep their legal protections, which would cause them to lose benefits such as pensions, health care, and social security.
   
    

I am not here to argue about morals or religion. Both of those are subjective. If you want truth about the institution of marriage, though, it would behoove you to research. Most people don't even know the history. Such as written by historians, sociologists, or people who just researched for their own self-knowledge, the actual history of marriage in America is this: 

The English Puritans in the 17th century even passed an Act of Parliament asserting "marriage to be no sacrament" and soon thereafter made marriage purely secular. It was no longer to be performed by a minister, but by a justice of the peace. The Restoration abolished this law and reverted to the old system, but the Puritans brought their concept of marriage to America where it survived.
 

Our country was founded on principles of freedom. "One Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for ALL". I don't think the penners of our pledge of allegiance really divided out races, adulterers, or homosexuals in that phrase. If so, we need to change the pledge to something along the lines of "a group of people with conservative Christian beliefs, under a Protestant God, with freedoms and rights for like-minded"

We all have opinions and a right to share them. I do not believe it is my right to push my beliefs and opinions on another. It is my right to be free of oppression from others as well.

I DO believe my heterosexual couple friends who live together without marriage deserve the same rights as my husband and I have to insurance and safety. I believe it is wrong to punish senior citizens who love each other, but need their retirement and Medicare benefits. I believe all children should have the same protections of their families regardless of the dynamics of those families. 

Don't go on my word. Read the actual proposal that you'll be voting on. Take time to LEARN for YOURSELF the truth. This vote is not about protecting the sanctity of marriage. Marriage is the name of an institution and is sanctified by those that make the commitment and uphold it.

 
**written by a 38-yr-old heterosexual married white woman with no living children**