A few moments ago I came across the post of a fellow Facebooker:

“…hoping everyone will vote Yes on 8. It’s about preserving God’s institution of marriage.”

For some reason it got me to respond and here’s what I said:

Sorry…can’t vote yes. A passing of this proposition will do nothing to preserve the institution of marriage. Regardless of my view, I can’t support an action that will take away the rights of others. Same-sex marriage is a CIVIL ISSUE, not a religious one.

I think my rant was sparked by my annoyance of anyone urging me to vote one way or another. I don’t view advertisements and endorsements in that way because…well…that’s just the nature of them. I think it more directly applies to those that have a more personal interaction with me.

I wouldn’t ever tell someone how they should vote or what stand to take on an issue. I recognize that not everyone will share my views for whatever reason. Depending on our life experiences, socialization and beliefs, our view on the world can be dramatically different from one another.

I can only tell you what my view is and why. Keep in mind that my personal view may or may not influence my vote. Alan Thicke, Gloria Loring and Al Burton hit the nail on the head with this lyric:

“What might be right for you, may not be right for some.”

You may ask, “Whachu talkin’ ’bout Willis?” so I’ll give an example. In most cases, I don’t believe in abortion, but I’m still Pro-Choice. A friend tried to point out how that didn’t make sense, but I argued that it was quite simple. Pro-Choice simply says “choose abortion” or “do not choose abortion.” It’s a choice, right? In the Pro-Choice decision I “Choose Life,” others may not. My view is centered around using abortion as a form of birth control. I will never vote for legislation that will take away someone’s right to choose.

Anyway, I have an internal and external dialogue. My INTERNAL dialogue will hope that everyone will vote for Obama, vote no on Prop 1A, vote no on Prop 2, vote no on Prop 3, etc. Oh yeah…vote no on Prop 8. However, my EXTERNAL dialogue just hopes that however you vote, it’s for reasons that make sense.

If you want to know how I’m voting and why, just ask me. I’ll be happy to tell you. I may ask you how you’re voting and why. If we happen to get in a debate on an issue, make sure your arguments make sense. If the argument happens to be on Prop 8, make sure your stance is more than “preserving God’s institution of marriage.” Just know that we’ll have a Bible and current marriage statistics available for the discussion. Not to mention other examples of discriminatory legislation thrown in to boot because Prop 8 ain’t as simple as it seems.

“If you want to protect marriage, ban divorce.”