I was brought up in religion, so I feel I have a certain understanding of the perspective of many religious voters.
I understand that the bible says that it is a sin to be gay. It also tells the story of Adam and Eve, which many believe in the literal sense. Here's the short of it (and the premise of my key point):
God created a man and a woman (Adam and Eve) and granted them Free Will. They went against gods wishes and ate a fruit from the garden of eden. When they did this, they began living in sin and were no longer perfect.
So, firstly, according to the bible, we all live in sin -we are all sinners. The bible also states (in different terms) that all sins are equal in Gods eyes. This really leaves no room for any follower of the bible to point fingers and condemn anyone else for sinning. Because we all live in sin.
Prop 8 is an act of discrimination. It takes away a right from a certain group of people that is granted to all other people. -the right to marry. If one believes that being gay makes you a bad christian/Catholic/etc, that is fine -it is your "god given" right to think and believe as you choose. By choosing your belief system, you are exercising that FREE WILL that god granted humans upon creation. By allowing others to make their own decisions about how they will behave and believe, you are not sinning or in any way being a bad Christian/Catholic/etc. -you are merely allowing others to have their own FREE WILL -just as they have allowed you to have yours. [treat others as you would have them treat you]
By attempting to force others to act as you believe they should act and think the way you think they should think, you are stripping away a right that God put into place -the right of FREE WILL.
You are also going out of your way to discriminate, and that causes conflict and negative feelings between groups.
I am taking the time to write this in that hopes that some Religion followers will break free from the overly simplistic notion that it is their responsibility to oppose anything that they view as sinful. It is not your responsibility at all. You are not the authority appointed to enforce the rules in the bible, you are just a follower of them. Live and choose...and let other live...and choose. If people can't learn to accept that we each have our own value sets and rules that we live by and allow each other to live how they want to live, this world will never know peace.
After all, we are all (according to the bible) imperfect, therefore we make mistakes and wrongful judgements. So do the religious leaders. So please, don't blindly participate in "group-think"....think for yourself!
Don't believe the fear tactics. Gay marriage is already legal in CA, and it's been legal in Hawaii for years! In the last century we saw the resistance to Women Voting, Racial Equality, and Religious Freedom. Now it's the gays who are being singled out. Lets stop this cycle of ignorance and hate. VOTE "NO" ON PROP 8!
