In response to Jon Spike's piece entitled California's gay marriage ban aids discrimination"" in The Daily Cardinal on Nov. 21, 2008:
Every person is entitled to their own opinion, but it would appear that every opinion is not equally backed by sound reason. In some cases of late, I've read opinions that referred to emotional appeal more than reason.
For example, Jon Spike, in his opinion published on November 21, referring to the total amount of money spent campaigning for and against Proposition 8 in California, wrote that ""The real eye-opening part of that statistic is how much money was wasted fighting over the equal rights of every human being, a matter one would think is fairly straightforward."" Setting all emotional reactions aside, it must be realized that either way, all humans have equal rights. If homosexual marriage is allowed, every adult would be allowed to marry any other adult of their choice. If homosexual marriage is not allowed, then every adult would be allowed to marry any other adult of the opposite sex. In both instances, every last person is permitted the same actions and allowed the same legal rights as any other person. While Spike was trying to imply that only homosexual marriage assures equal rights, clearly equal rights are preserved either way.
After this fact is acknowledged, it becomes a wonder how the passage of Proposition 8, or the similar referendum in Wisconsin in 2006, ""aids discrimination."" Although the passage of Proposition 8 did remove a legal right from people in California, it must be understood that in this specific case, the citizens of California responded within the framework of democracy to tell a panel of judges that they did not agree with their previous ruling. That is substantially less than ""a sad and continuing trend of stripping legal rights from other human beings.""
Finally, possibly the most interesting statement made by Spike was also one of the most unsupported. ""Here's hoping it doesn't take 25 years for federal, state and local citizens to realize how morally wrong banning gay marriage is."" I would have loved to read another sentence or two expanding on this parting point. Perhaps I'll get the opportunity to indulge some other time.
- Timothy Reasa
undeclared major
