The Arizona Marriage Amendment -- Observations on the News

The Arizona Republic reported concerning a survey on possible votes for and against the Arizona Marriage Amendment. The news story was short and unremarkable. The comments posted by those both for and against the Amendment were almost uniformly vitupritive and ignorant. Most of the commentators resorted to name calling and rudeness. It was interesting, that there was no dialog at all, nothing that even approached a discussion of the issues. Those for the Amendment were just as lacking in social graces and those opposing. I don't believe in my life that I have ever seen a controversy resolved by ignorant name calling.

Quoting from The Divine Institution of Marriage (see link on this page):

"The Church does not condone abusive treatment of others and encourages its members to treat all people with respect. However, speaking out against practices with which the Church disagrees on moral grounds – including same-sex marriage – does not constitute abuse or the frequently misused term “hate speech.” We can express genuine love and friendship for the homosexual family member or friend without accepting the practice of homosexuality or any re-definition of marriage."

I hope that those who support the Marriage Amendment will take the time to educate themselves about the issues and then, with love, educate those around them. This is not a good time for name calling and ignorant emotional blasting.