This is a letter my friend, The Computer/Music Nerd, wrote and sent me a copy. - OlderMusicGeek.
To: Governor Chet Culver
To: Governor Chet Culver
US Senator Tom Harkin
US Senator Chuck Grassley
US Representative Leonard Boswell
IA Senator Pat Ward
IA Representative Dan Clute
I just read about the ruling of Judge Robert B. Hanson and applaud it most rigorously. It is about time someone thought about the rights of human beings and not their own feelings or opinions.
The key here is "equal protection of the law". This is NOT a religious issue, to say so restricts my rights as a non-Christian. The idea of marriage being an issue governed by religion is based on the majority's belief in Christianity, and may also be found in Islam and Judaism. As a Buddhist I reject the notion that Judeo-Christian-Islamic beliefs govern my life. I live by the rule of law and believe that marriage in the United States is a matter of Law. The Law in the United States MUST be governed by the idea of "equal protection of the law" and as such, Gay and Lesbians should not be discriminated against.
To discriminate against a group because they have fewer voices goes against what it means to live in the United States , this is the country that protects the minority by law and seeks equal treatment by law.
"I can't believe this actually happened in Iowa," Rants said of Hanson's ruling. "What it means is that one person has decided they know better than the whole Legislature." (DM Register)
I am so glad this is happening in Iowa. One person has not decided they know better, one judge has determined that the majority is ignoring the Constitution, institutionalizing discrimination. Iowa, which took a heavy toll in the Civil War to protect the ideology of freedom of the oppressed, should take a lead in lifting the oppression of this minority.
Governor Culver I am personally deeply disappointed in you, as a Democrat and a representative of all Iowans you should stand by this ruling, not take the easy way out. You may personally feel a marriage should be a man and woman; however, you represent gay and lesbian Iowans as well as heterosexual Iowans. Your comment in the Des Moines Register is therefore inexcusable.
"While some Iowans may disagree on this issue, I personally believe marriage is between a man and a woman," Culver said. (DM Register)
In 1946 President Truman formed the President's Committee on Civil Rights. The Report began: (emphasis added)
THE NATIONAL Government of the United States must take the lead in safeguarding the civil rights of all Americans . We believe that this is one of the most important observations that can be made about the civil rights problem in our country today. We agree with words used by the President, in an address at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in June, 1947:
We must make the Federal Government a friendly, vigilant defender of the rights and equalities of all Americans . * * * Our National Government must show the way.
It is essential that our rights be preserved against the tyrannical actions of public officers. Our forefathers saw the need for such protection when they gave us the Bill of Rights as a safeguard against arbitrary government. But this is not enough today. We need more than protection of our rights against government; we need protection of our rights against private persons or groups, seeking to undermine them. In the words of the President:
We cannot be content with a civil liberties program which emphasizes only the need of protection against the possibility of tyranny by the Government. * * * We must keep moving forward, with new concepts of civil rights to safeguard our heritage. The extension of civil rights today means not protection of the people against the Government, but protection of the people by the Government.
Protection of the people by the Government. You are all the Representatives of the PEOPLE. The people are not simply the majority; the people are all of the people. Gay and Lesbian people must have equal protection under the law or none of us do. What is next? Will we discriminate against some other small group? Perhaps I as a Buddhist will have my freedoms restricted while Christians are granted those same freedoms? Or perhaps Muslims, or Libertarians, you name the group. We must protect all Americans or we protect none.
Judge Hanson is standing up for ALL Iowans, why don't you?
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