Tennessee's Marriage Protection Constitutional Amendment

REALMARRIAGE.ORG - A COALITION TO PROTECT MARRIAGE

The institution of marriage--that is the union of one man and one woman-- has proven throughout human history to be the surest foundation for civil society and families. Thus, marriage must be protected in the law from counterfeits and devolutions in definition and in practice. The institution of marriage is neither purely religious, purely private, nor purely civil; rather, it is a natural institution, rooted in the order of nature itself. What must be upheld against attack are the privileges and benefits of marriage as have customarily and wisely been bestowed upon the institution by the favor of God, government and mankind.

Therefore, it seems both prudent and necessary to be reminded, through education and advocacy, of the compelling public interest served by marriage. Accordingly, RealMarriage.org is dedicated to the defense of marriage against any variations, experimentations, replacements, or deconstructions, thereby protecting our culture from undemonstrated and unknown social consequences, which plainly run counter to the stability, safety, and developmental health provided by the ideal of real marriage.

MARRIAGE WINS 81.3% - 18.7%
February 1, 2006
To all that worked tirelessly on the marriage amendment, let me say a PROFOUND THANK YOU. Because of the all reports we received about votes mistakenly cast, we had prayed that the Lord would restore 2 to 1 what the "locust had eaten". I believe God answered that prayer abundantly and we can rejoice!!
Remember that getting the majority of vote would not mean success. The State Constitution requires that amendments receive 50%+1 of the votes cast in the governor's race. Looking at the figures available, there were 1,810,140 votes cast in the governor's race. That means that the amendment needed to receive 905,070 to pass. Praise the Lord, it received 1,414,562 votes. It was worth twelve hours in the rain at my precinct and all the EVERYONE did all across the state. As an aside, a number of people thanked me for being there to remind folks about the vote in the amendment.
A couple of highlights from the CNN exit poll statistics: Contrary to what might have been expected we got a 77% vote from the 18-29 age group. Self identified liberals voted for the amendment by 52%.

TEN PRINCIPLES OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY IN SOCIETY

1. Marriage is a personal union, intended for the whole of life, of husband and wife.
Marriage differs from other valued personal relationships in conveying a full union of husband and wife- including a sexual, emotional, financial, legal, spiritual, and parental union. Marriage is not the ratification of an existing relation; it is the beginning of a new relationship between a man and woman, who pledge their sexual fidelity to one another, promise loving mutual care and support, and form a family that welcomes and nurtures the children that may spring from their union. This understanding of marriage has predominated in Europe and America for most of the past two thousand years. It springs from the biological, psychological, and social complementarity of the male and female sexes: Women typically bring to marriage important gifts and perspectives that men typically do not bring, just as men bring their own special gifts and perspectives that women typically cannot provide in the same way. This covenant of mutual dependence and obligation, solemnized by a legal oath, is strengthened by the pledge of permanence that husband and wife offer to one another-always to remain, never to flee, even and especially in the most difficult times.

From: Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles, Princeton, New Jersey, May, 2006

Banned in Boston
The coming conflict between same-sex marriage and religious liberty.
by Maggie Gallagher
05/15/2006, Volume 011, Issue 33, The Weekly Standard

CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF BOSTON made the announcement on March 10: It was getting out of the adoption business. "We have encountered a dilemma we cannot resolve. . . . The issue is adoption to same-sex couples."

It was shocking news. Catholic Charities of Boston, one of the nation's oldest adoption agencies, had long specialized in finding good homes for hard to place kids. "Catholic Charities was always at the top of the list," Paula Wisnewski, director of adoption for the Home for Little Wanderers, told the Boston Globe. "It's a shame because it is certainly going to mean that fewer children from foster care are going to find permanent homes." Marylou Sudders, president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said simply, "This is a tragedy for kids."

How did this tragedy happen?

It's a complicated story. Massachusetts law prohibited "orientation discrimination" over a decade ago. Then in November 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered gay marriage. The majority ruled that only animus against gay people could explain why anyone would want to treat opposite-sex and same-sex couples differently. That same year, partly in response to growing pressure for gay marriage and adoption both here and in Europe, a Vatican statement made clear that placing children with same-sex couples violates Catholic teaching. - http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/191kgwgh.asp

MARRIAGE PROTECTION AMENDMENT (MPA)
By Matt Daniels
Senate Joint Resolution 1 in the 109th Congress

THE CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE

I. LEGAL CONSEQUENCES

Invalidation of all state marriage amendments (Nebraska amendment invalidated in federal court)

Invalidation of over 1,000 federal laws concerning welfare, education, immigration, taxation, the armed forces, federal benefits, loan programs, and other policy areas (General Accounting Office Report prepared for Senator Frist)

Invalidation of thousands of state laws -- for every state in the nation -- concerning welfare, education, taxation, state benefits programs, and many other substantive state policy areas. - http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4083

Marital Blitz
This November, anti-gay-marriage bills will be back on ballots with a vengeance. But this time around, the gay and lesbian activist network is ready to play hardball.
By E. J. Graff, Issue Date: 03.10.06

Do you remember the fall 2004 gay-bashing festival? In 13 states, voters agreed to add to their constitutions a phrase like this one: "Marriage is between one man and one woman." The gay-bashing came afterward, when Democrats and liberal pundits declared that greedy gay folks had brought those initiatives on themselves with their foolish pursuit of marriage equality -- and were therefore responsible for John Kerry's loss. Political scientists have since debunked the claim that anti-marriage initiatives brought Kerry down. But here's the bad news: The anti-marriage initiatives are back.

This fall, Defense of Marriage Acts (DOMAs), which declare that "marriage is between one man and one woman," and SuperDOMA amendment initiatives, which also ban "marriage-like" recognition of same-sex pairs, will be on the ballot in Alabama, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. They're also likely to qualify for the ballot in Arizona, California, and Colorado. At the same time, marriage-equality lawsuits are percolating up through the courts in California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Washington; at least one is likely to win soon, giving culture warriors an excuse to roar out still more marriage-protection proposals. Worse yet, once these initiatives pass, family-values folks will renege on their moderate rhetoric and use them to try to ban any legal recognition, no matter how small or even symbolic, of same-sex couples. - http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=11177

Study urges repeal of Canada's polygamy law
Jan. 12, 2006. 04:59 PM
CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - A new study for the federal Justice Department says Canada should get rid of its law banning polygamy, and change other legislation to help women and children living in such multiple-spouse relationships.

"Criminalization does not address the harms associated with valid foreign polygamous marriages and plural unions, in particular the harms to women," says the report, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
"The report therefore recommends that this provision be repealed." - http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1137066011866&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

Polygamy Versus Democracy -You can't have both.
by Stanley Kurtz
06/05/2006, Volume 011, Issue 36

IT TOOK A TELEVISION SERIES about a Viagra-popping patriarch with three friendly/jealous wives and tightly scheduled evenings to set off a serious public debate about polygamy. And that was precisely the intention of the creators of this now infamous television show--no, not Big Love, the American series that debuted on HBO in March, but 'Ailat Al-Hagg Metwalli (Hagg Metwalli's Family), an Egyptian serial that stirred emotions and sparked a bitter debate about polygamy in the Muslim world during the holy month of Ramadan 2001.

The drama heats up when fiftysomething Metwalli Said, longtime husband of three, decides to court a young woman, Samira, in the hope of making her his fourth wife. Unbeknownst to Metwalli, Samira is in love with his own son, who is eventually forced by his father to forsake Samira to marry the daughter of a relative (as is often preferred in Muslim societies). Metwalli's Viagra-induced heart attack brings the story to a head.

Metwalli's polygamy serves as a kind of Rorschach test of Muslim modernization.

Studying viewer responses to this serial, Norwegian historian of religion Anne Sofie Roald found that assimilated Muslim immigrant women in the West see Metwalli as a dictator: running around on his wives, forcing them to give up their jobs, forbidding them to leave the house without permission, selfishly forcing his son out of a love marriage, and generally insisting that his word is law. - http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/266jhfgd.asp

FOCUS ON SOCIAL ISSUES: Marriage and Family

This link contains a wealth of information that is very helpful and instructive. Family is the fundamental building block of all human civilizations. Marriage is the glue that holds it together. The health of our culture, its citizens and their children is intimately linked to the health and well-being of marriage. In these pages, you will find a wealth of information and resources that will help you understand just how much the family matters and keep up to date on how the family is faring in our culture.

Come in, look around and benefit from the research and materials we have assembled to help you become a knowledgeable and articulate advocate for marriage and family in your sphere of influence.

Links of special interest include: Debate-Tested Sound Bites on Defending Marriage The Truth about Domestic Violence in Martial Versus Cohabitational Relationships What No-Fault Divorce Can Teach Us About Same-sex Marriage Defending Marriage Through State Constitutional Amendments
http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/marriage/

REDEFINING MARRIAGE IS NOT A CIVIL RIGHT
March 2, 2004
by Glenn T. Stanton

The same-sex marriage proponents would have us denounce most blacks as bigots. Same-sex marriage proponents have made urprising strides in getting a hearing for their radical marriage counterfeit. No society at any time has ever raised a generation of children in same-sex families, yet these family revolutionaries only needed to convince four judges in Massachusetts and one lawless mayor in San Francisco to inflict their highly experimental ideas on the rest of us.

Gay activists have gained their ground through emotional manipulation and by diverting the public's attention away from the thousands of scientific studies that tell us how healthy child-development requires mothers and fathers. They have manipulated us by high-jacking civil rights language. And as a result, millions of boys and girls will be subjected to intentionally motherless and fatherless families for no other reason than to fulfill the desires of adults who want such families.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/marriage/nac/a0031029.cfm **Go to link for full article**

The Human Case Against Same-Sex Marriage
December 27, 2003
by Glenn T. Stanton

Same-sex marriage deconstructs our understanding of humanity. When four justices from Massachusetts's Supreme Judicial Court declared unconstitutional what all human civilizations throughout time have seen as quite beyond question -- that marriage is about men and women -- they did something far more radical. The Court actually reduced the beautifully complex nature of male and female to mere sperm and womb. They said to you, madam, that your femininity exists only in your eggs. They said to you, sir, that your masculinity is found only in your sperm. They have reduced who we are -- in the deepest part of our humanity -- to our sheer biological reproduction. And though we haven't met personally, I trust your gender is a bit more integral to who you are than that.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/marriage/ssuap/a0029575.cfm **Go to link for full article**

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) ABOUT SAME-SEX "MARRIAGE."